One in four species
\nof mammals and one in eight bird species are in danger of becoming extinct,
\nshowed an experts’ report four years ago. According to them, plant and animal
\nspecies are becoming extinct at least 1,000 times faster than they did before
\nthe appearance of humans on Earth. The cause: man’s harmful activities. The
\nsituation is even more serious as the phenomenon is accelerating, and it is so
\nintense that experts are already talking about ‘a 6th mass
\nextinction’ after the one when dinosaurs disappeared, 65 million years ago. Many
\nmammal species will become extinct within the next 50 years, according to a
\nstudy carried out by scientists from Denmark and Sweden, which has been
\nrecently made public in Proceedings of
\nthe National Academy of Sciences. These scientists have proven that the 6th
\nmass extinction is under way at present, and it is not being caused by natural
\ndisasters, but by human activity. Extinction is taking place at too fast a pace
\nfor the evolution process to keep up with this phenomenon, researchers argue. What
\ncan be done?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
According to the
\nmost optimistic scenario, people are going to stop destroying animals’ habitats
\nand contributing to the eradication of species. But, even if this optimistic
\nscenario becomes reality, mammals would need 3 up to 5 million years only to
\nbecome diversified enough for the evolution tree to regenerate the branches it is
\nlikely to lose in the coming 50 years, according to estimates. Romania is among
\nthe countries which, thanks to its geographical position and relief, benefits
\nfrom a rich fauna, and in its attempt to preserve this diversity of species, it
\nhas laws that protect many animals such as bears, Carpathian roebucks, lynxes,
\nchamois, roosters, foxes, martens, beavers, wild boars and aurochs. Overprotection
\nmay lead, however, to excessive reproduction, which generates hard-to-handle
\nsituations. This is the case of the bear population in Romania, which,
\naccording to official figures, is made up of 6,800 bears. Other statistics show
\nthat the real number of the bear population is around 8,000, which is more than
\nthe number for which Romania pledged to the European Commission to care in
\nRomania’s forests. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
University professor Mircea Dutu, the president of the Ecological
\nUniversity from Bucharest, explains: There must always be a balance in nature. When this balance gets
\nbroken, we are no longer in a natural state, but in a degraded state, which is
\nno longer adequate for both partners, so to say, in this case, for man and
\nbiodiversity in general. As regards this general issue, I would say that, in
\nRomania, bears and even wolves are considered natural and cultural symbols. For
\ninstance, the bear is at the origin of local conflicts and of media campaigns
\nthat promote the need to safeguard its natural habitat. Therefore, the issue
\nhas been raised at European and international levels in terms of how rare and
\nhow endangered a species is, including the bear. Also, the issue of the need for
\nbear protection by man has been raised. But, in Romania, the ecological
\nperception and the attitude to be adopted in this regard have been
\nmisunderstood, which led to overpopulation with a certain species, which caused
\na break in the ecological balance, and in turn entailed a different approach to
\neconomic aspects and to means of protecting people and eliminating dangers.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The bear is a
\nspecies of interest for the community, so it has to benefit from proper
\nconservation conditions, but Romania has reached this absurd situation,
\naccording to professor Dutu, in which it is overpopulated with bears. The
\nspecies has developed beyond the natural capacity meant to ensure the balance
\nnecessary for obtaining a favorable conservation state and to allow for an
\noptimal harvesting quota, in line with the European legislation and the
\nRomanian legislation on hunting and protecting the hunting stock. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Here is
\nprofessor Mircea Dutu with more: We
\nare in a period of crisis. The annual quotas meant to ensure the necessary
\nbalance inside the species have not been harvested since 2016. If the situation
\nis not managed properly, we will lose control of the phenomenon. Consequently,
\na study is needed on the current state of the species, as well as an inventory of
\nthe species, an assessment of the causes that led to such a situation, and of the
\nconsequences. Also a plan on short, medium and long term has to be drafted to
\ndeal with the issue, so as to be able to solve it within a reasonable period of
\ntime. It’s an absurd situation, Europe complains about the lack of bears, while
\nRomania has too many bears that have become a threat to ecological balance, to
\nthe economy and also to the population.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Over the past
\nyears, in certain areas of Romania, bears have become a regular presence in
\npeople’s courtyards, causing damage and even hurting people. And their number
\nis on the rise.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Romania is currently overpopulated with bears<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":155944,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43939],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-155943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-future-starts-today"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n