The real number of brown bears in Russia is higher than official data, the expert believes

The real number of brown bears in Russia is higher than the official data, since the accounting methods used do not give an accurate result, says Alexei Vaisman, deputy editor-in-chief of the magazine "Hunting and Hunting Management".

The Russian Ministry of Natural Resources previously reported to RIA Novosti that the number of brown bears in Russia has increased by more than 2.3 times since 1990 and amounts to 307.9 thousand individuals. At the same time, the most significant territorial groups of brown bears are concentrated in Siberia and the Far East.

“Most likely, the data on the number of bears is underestimated. This is due to the fact that counting bears is a complicated matter,” Vaisman told RIA Novosti.

According to him, determining the number is complicated by the fact that in winter bears hibernate, and the rest of the time the main method of counting is the mapping method, in which specialists map traces of animal activity and then use them to determine individual habitat areas.

“But, as shown by special studies in the Stolby Nature Reserve (Krasnoyarsk Territory - ed.), this method, like all others, underestimates the number,” the expert added.