Two Cases Of Hunters Being Attacked By Bears Occur In Jämtland County of Sweden

TWO cases of hunters being attacked by bears have been reported in the Jämtland County of Sweden.

According to Olov Hallquist, the head of game at the county administrative board, the attacks took place yesterday, Thursday, August 24, and today, Friday 25. ‘The persons were bitten on the arms and the extent of the damage is otherwise unclear’, he confirmed.

One incident occurred around Tåsjö and the other in the Hammartrand region. ‘These were attacks that took place during hunting in connection with hunters shooting bears and then they were attacked’, explained Olov Hallquist.

As Hallquist pointed out, such incidents are unusual and so they stand out. ‘It is something that can happen in connection with bear hunting, so it is a potentially dangerous animal’, Olov Hallquist continued

He emphasised: If you are out hunting bear, you must try to ensure that the first shot you fire is lethal. Don’t shoot if you’re not sure you’ll hit it’, while adding that he doesn’t yet know what happened in the current cases.

It is unusual for a bear to bite somebody

Hallquist was asked by aftonbladet.se what he thought could have happened in these two cases. He responded: ‘I do not know. What we do know is that both have been shot at and then they attacked. Many bear hunting situations take place at very short distances’. He added that these are very unusual situations and that the risk of being bitten by a bear is very low.

When asked how short of a distance he was referring to, Hallquist explained: ‘It could be a matter of a few metres, but in this case I don’t know. It can also be the case that it reacts very fast when you shoot at the bear at a very short distance’.

‘These have been provoked attacks, the bears have been shot. So the risk of something happening when people move in forest and land is not great’, Hallquist continued.

There was a bear attack recently in Ljusdal Municipality, Gävleborg County, where a father and a son were attacked by a bear, the aforementioned news outlet added.