400 brown bears inhabit the Cantabrian mountain range. They graze in its meadows and bathe in its rivers. However, some very bold ones approach urban centers and can be spotted with some ease.
“Some of them They are starting to be curious to approach the citieseasy food, easy resources,” comments María Párraga, coordinator of the Oso Pardo Foundation.
Bears are getting closer to some Cantabrian towns, even recently one of them was seen opening a trash can. To prevent this from happening, local councils in the area have had to change them. They also clear the bush to prevent them from approaching.
“The intention is to plant fruit trees, including cherry, apple and pear trees, far from cities.in the brañas, in the mountains, precisely so that they have food in this environment”, explains Belarmino Fernández, mayor of Somiedo.
This prevents them from searching for the fruit in town, where they also place deterrents. And in the event that a specimen is a repeat offender, a GPS collar is placed on it to keep it located.
Of course, despite its increasingly close presence, Brown bears continue to attract rural tourism and in Somiedo they celebrate their return
“We are setting up small lookouts outside the towns to organize all this tourist flow,” explains the mayor.
And Marc Alonso, brown bear specialist, warns what to do if we encounter one: “Obviously keep your distance. We are in the age of selfies and these behaviors are not appropriate. Do not shout, avoid any attitude that the bear would consider aggressive. Once the bear has detected us, the most normal thing is for it to move away.“.
And it must continue to be so. Without approaching and, of course, without giving them food. The bears are back, but we want them at bay.
