Bear encounters captured on video highlight mounting global risks in changing habitats
Recent bear attacks across Europe and Asia, documented on film, underscore rising human-wildlife interactions as habitats shift and climates warm.
An escalating wave of bear encounters captured on video this year has drawn attention to human-wildlife interactions in bear country. In northern Greece this summer, 61-year-old Christos Stavrianidis was killed after being charged by a brown bear while hiking with a friend in the Fratko forest. His companion, Dimitris, survived, and authorities have said the animal appeared to push the hiker toward a ravine during the attack. A clip circulating this week shows the bear approaching the path before the fall. Footage linked to RAW VIDEO CODE: 3513965 has circulated online.
Across Europe and Asia, other bear-related incidents have been documented recently, including a driver in Romania who was forced to jump through his car window to escape a charging bear on the Transfagarasan highway, and a tourist in the same area who was killed the week prior. In the Carpathians, Italian motorcyclist Omar Farang Zin, 49, was killed in June when a bear attacked him while riding through the mountains; authorities said his death followed reports of a bear sighting posted by the rider days earlier. Video later showed him sharing images and a selfie with a bear moments before the attack.
In eastern India, a rabid sloth bear mauled a father and son in the Kanker area of Chhattisgarh while they gathered firewood, killing Suklal Darro, 45, and his 22-year-old son Ajju Kureti; a forest ranger, Narayan Yadav, was critically injured while attempting to intervene. The attack was captured in a video that shows the bear charging toward the ranger as bystanders shout for help before the men are killed.
A separate case in Japan left a hiker in his 20s dead after a bear attacked and dragged him into the forest on Mount Rausu, on Hokkaido. The victim had been reported missing on August 14; rescue teams found him the following day and he was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Other incidents further illustrate the range of bear encounters this year. In Slovakia, a man who encountered a bear on a forest path used bear spray and then a hatchet to fend off the animal, according to camera-trap footage. In Russia, a circus bear attacked its trainer in front of children at a Mash Circus show, prompting a swift melee as staff and spectators scrambled to safety. In Thailand, Naiphum Promratee was dragged into a bear enclosure after taunting a large 250-kilogram bear at a temple sanctuary, suffering serious injuries before rescue workers arrived.
In Romania, a British tourist was mauled after rolling down her car window to take a closer look at a mother bear and cub on a Transfăgărășan road, an incident that left the visitor with arm injuries. A separate case in Italy saw a 12-year-old boy, who had studied how to respond to a bear encounter, calmly back away as a bear followed him during a family hike; the bear eventually left the area without injuring him.
Polar bears also featured in a harrowing moment earlier this year on the remote Arctic island of Svalbard, where a man escaped a charging bear by leaping onto a snowmobile as the bear moved in on him, a scene captured in video circulated in regional outlets.
Taken together, the incidents reflect a broad pattern of dangerous bear encounters across diverse environments—from forests and mountains to roadside overlooks and enclosed spaces—often involving people who were traveling, hiking, or otherwise using bear country. Wildlife officials say bear behavior is influenced by habitat pressures, food availability, and proximity to human activity, a combination that can heighten risk for those entering bear territory during peak seasons.
Experts note that as climate patterns shift and human activity expands into traditional wildlife ranges, encounters may become more frequent in some regions. Authorities emphasize the importance of abiding by local safety guidelines when in bear country: remain on marked trails, store food securely, carry deterrents where permitted, travel in groups when possible, and avoid surprising bears by giving them space and time to retreat. Rangers and conservation groups also urge travelers to report sightings and sounds of bears to local authorities to reduce the chance of surprise confrontations.
The series of events underscores the ongoing challenge of balancing outdoor recreation and wildlife protection in a warming, increasingly interconnected world, where bear habitat overlaps with growing human presence across continents.