The governor saw the connection of the number of bears with the departure of hunters for a special operation

The increase in the number of bears and frequent attacks of predators on people is also associated with the departure of hunters for a military operation, said the head of Buryatia Alexei Tsydenov live on the TV channel “Russia 1”.

“We understand that the hunters went to defend their homeland. And now the number of hunters has decreased, the bear is not shot, he said.

Among other reasons, Tsydenov called a decrease in commercial interest in hunting bears due to falling demand in China, as well as forest fires, after which the buttocks did not have time to recover.

According to him, in Buryatia there are more than 6 thousand bears, while a significant part of predators coming to people are young individuals, which are displaced by adult males.

According to official data from August 1 to October 20, 2026, bear attacks on people were recorded in 15 Russian regions, including Buryatia.

In total, in Russia in 2026 there are 307.9 thousand brown bears against 130 thousand in 1990. Thus, during this period, the population increased by more than 2.3 times, previously reported RBC in the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia.

According to Tsydenov, 509 bears were shot in Buryatia by November 8. In early October, their number, according to Burprirodnadzor, reached 331 individuals — then 24 brigades worked in the republic, which included 81 hunters. Payments for one killed bear increased to 15 thousand rubles.

The head of Buryatia warned that some of the bears did not hibernate, and the meeting with such “shatun bears” is the most dangerous. “Therefore, I would like to warn all of us that we should not go in the forest alone after all. Therefore, this winter and spring will still be tense. We are preparing for it and warning people, he said.