The revelation that a restaurant in the foothills of the Tatra Mountains in Slovakia offers brown bear stew on its menu –protected animal in the European Union– and a spicy bear chicharrón pâté, has sparked a scandal in Slovakiareported Tuesday the daily Pravda.
“We have serious doubts about whether this activity is carried out in accordance with the law, Michal Haring, an activist with the We Are the Forest (My sme les) initiative, told the newspaper. “It is surprising that the restaurant’s staff claims that the contacts with the national park administration Tatra Highlands National Park (TANAP) are sufficient to obtain bear meat,” he added.
According to the newspaper, people working in the restaurant – owned by former biathlete and Olympic medalist Pavol Hurajt – have allegedly claimed that this bear meat is available through TANAP. However, this has been denied by the park’s spokeswoman, Nina Obzutová, who assures that she is not aware of any bear being offered on the menu..
“To date, we have not applied for an exception to take a single bear in our territory, and we do not grant exceptions for trapping. Only the Ministry of Environment (MŽP) of the Slovak Republic has this competence,” the spokeswoman said.
Nor has the Ministry of Environment issued an exemption for the animal’s meat to be traded, and it has only been allowed to remove, so far this year, some four dozen animals considered dangerous to prevent attacks on the population.
As of October 2024, no human deaths have been reported as a result of brown bear attacks in Slovakia, but several cases of injuries have been reported. The Ministry has taken over the investigation of the environmentalists’ complaint.