UDMR Sen. Tanchos Barna filed a bill Tuesday that would make prevention and intervention quotas for brown bear hunting governed by science-based law. Thus, preventive quotas for 426 individuals and interventional quotas for 55 individuals were introduced for the next two years.

The bill stipulates that in case of shooting, hunting societies must take genetic samples, and also that primary male bears that exceed certain points and bears with cubs cannot be shot.

More precisely, the hunting of bear specimens is carried out after obtaining a nature conservation permit, the harvesting of individuals whose fur exceeds 350 CIC points, as well as females accompanied by cubs under 2 years of age, is prohibited.

In addition, there is a strict reporting obligation to accurately monitor the draws. At the same time, the law stipulates that every two years the Ministry of Natural Resources must conduct an inventory of the bear population and establish hunting norms on its basis.

“The protection of human life and property must be at the center of brown bear population management along with the maintenance of the species. This principle supports UDMR. All studies conducted in recent years show that the bear population in Romania is growing significantly, and with it, the number of attacks and damage caused by them is increasing. Therefore, the need for intervention is undeniable. The draft law puts hunting back on a scientific basis with precise quotas, as is already the case in Romanian legislation for other less dangerous species,” Tanchos Barna said after the submission of the bill.

He noted that the UDMR project was supported by 103 deputies, both from the government and from the opposition.

The legislation has been introduced in the Senate and complements the Emergency Response Act of 2021 and the Hunting Act.

The draft law on UDMR will be discussed in the Senate, and then, after the work of specialized committees in the Chamber of Deputies, the final draft will be submitted to the plenary session of the Chamber.