Two Brown Bears Shot Dead Near Greek-Albanian Borders

By Nikoleta Kalmouki on December 17, 2013

Photograph of the two bears, released by Arcturos

On Tuesday, animal rights activists found a female brown bear and her cub shot, in a wooded area in Kastoria near the Greek-Albanian border.
Arcturos the northern Greece-based bear conservation group, was informed by police after the discovery of the dead female bear and her cub bore gunshot wounds. The authorities believe that the 150-kilogram female bear was shot several times in the snout on a nearby road, and that her body was then dragged into the woods. The 40-kilo cub also had gunshot wounds to its body.
According to Arcturos, the two bears were shot in an isolated area that has no residences or livestock farms nearby. The two bears were found dead in each other’s embrace. It is thought that the mother bear, who suffered the most serious injuries, was shot and killed first and that the cub, injured by gunfire, after wandering, returned near its mother waiting for her to wake up and then died next to her.
“This is the first time in Arcturos’s 21 years of operation that we have seen such a heinous case of murder of a mother and baby bear,” the animal conservation group stated. “Other than its environmental dimension, this case also surpasses all moral boundaries.”
The population of brown bears in Greece is estimated at 350-400.  The brown bear (Ursus arctos) is  protected under Greek law as an endangered species. Its killing can lead to imprisonment.

http://greece.greekreporter.com/2013/12/17/two-brown-bears-shot-dead-near-greek-albanian-borders/