Update: The Environment Ministry announced on Thursday that it hadn’t been asked to give the green light for the bear’s shooting, also informing it would notify the Sibiu Police to start an investigation in this case.
Protests are announced in Sibiu on Friday against the local authorities’ decision to kill the bear cub wandering through the city on Wednesday.
“Romania without them” association in Bucharest says it will stage a protest in Piata Mare in Sibiu on Friday evening, while asking for the resignation of the authorities that decided to kill the bear that got lost in the city.
“On behalf of the murdered bear cub we ask for the authorities to resign. We ask the Prosecutor’s Office to notify ex-officio for manslaughter committed against an innocent, protected animal. Three such crimes have been committed in Sibiu in the past five years and nothing has been done. The bear cub is guilty in your eyes for it couldn’t tranquilize itself. Citizens in Sibiu, let’s ask for the mass resignation of the local authorities for the way they managed the situation for the third time. We ask for justice on behalf of the killed creatures,” reads the association’s appeal posted on Facebook.
The Federation for the Animals and Environment Protection also announced on Wednesday that it filed a criminal complaint at the Prosecutor’s Office against the authorities responsible for shooting the bear. The bear running on the Sibiu streets for hours has injured no person, the federation argues.
At the same time, the façade of the “Gong” Theatre for Children and Youth in Sibiu will be colored in red until Friday, in the memory of the murdered bear cub.
In their turn, WWF Romania states that the bear shooting case in Sibiu proves that there is an urgent need to set up the Emergency Service for Wild Animals for in such situation a regulation is needed on the intervention procedures, as well as trained people who could efficiently intervene in such cases.
In retort, the Sibiu prefect, Cristian Roman says that the bear has been killed for the tranquillizers couldn’t immobilize it and the animal has reached not only on the people’s house roofs, but also in the courtyard of a furniture factory, jeopardizing the lives of over 50 employees.
The prefect says that a criminal case was opened for firearm use, but the only safe solution for the people’s protection was to shoot the bear.
Local authorities from Sibiu were also on their toes five years ago after a tiger had escaped from the city’s Zoo. The tiger was eventually killed after he had wandered around Valea Aurie district near the Zoo.
Environment Ministry: No waiver request for the shooting
The Environment Ministry says it will notify the Sibiu Police to probe into the bear shooting case and also to establish how the animal showed up in the city. “The Ministry is also considering the version that the bear might have been the result of an illegal activity: the voluntary release of a bear hold in captivity, the break of a captive bear, an illegal transport, etc. The Environment Ministry has not been called to release a shooting waiver,” reads the ministry’s Facebook post.
At the same time, the ministry asked the Vet Direction to determine the bear’s condition before being shot, including to establish if the animal had been tranquillized before it had come to the city.
Like the WWF Romania, the ministry considers this incident calls for the need to set up the Emergency Service for Wild Animals, an action already initiated by the Environment and Interior ministries.
President Iohannis slams intervention
President Klaus Iohannis criticized the authorities’ intervention in the wandering bear case, saying it’s inadmissible that 50 people should be called for a bear and be disorganized and untrained and to shoot the animal in the end.
The President added that simple and clear procedures are needed and that the rescuers should know how to enforce them.