Human-large carnivore encounters
Large carnivore species are naturally wary of humans. Since they avoid contact with humans, human-large carnivore encounters in nature are usually rare.
Large carnivores are not dangerous to humans because they do not perceive human as prey, rather as a potential danger. Fear of large carnivores is therefore not necessary, but cautiousness is of great importance.
Wolf
In Slovenia, there is no reported wolf attack on human for last 100 years. Even encounters with wolves in nature are very rare.
Eurasian lynx
Human-Eurasian lynx encounters are really rare, mainly because of species low abundance and natural wariness. Until now, Eurasian lynx attack on humans have not been reported.
Brown bear
In comparison with wolf and Eurasian lynx, encounters with brown bears are sligtly more numerous, manily because of their higher abundance in Slovenian area. Nevertheless, encouters are still rare. Some more cases are reported in spring, when brown bears start to leave their winter dens and are more intenesely search for food. In this time of the year, also more people are out in nature. Some more encounters can happen also in summer and autumn, mainly because of mushroom picking, forest fruits and other fruits harvesting.
When visiting nature, we can avoid encounter with brown bear with proper behavior. If brown bear does not detect our presence in due time, encounter can happen. Proper behavior and knowledge of the brown bear behavior can help us to make the encounter without consequences for all involved. You can access the recommendations for proper behavior in brown bear areas in a leaflet produced within the LIFE DINALP BEAR project.
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