A dispersing bear in Białowieża Forest raises important ecological and conservation management questions for the central European lowlands

A brown bear, the first documented in Poland's Białowieża Forest since 1963, was recorded in June 2019 during a camera trap study. The individual likely dispersed to Belarus, where it was spotted again in April 2020, possibly the same bear. This rare event suggests that as the Belarusian bear population expands, such dispersals into eastern Poland could become more frequent, potentially leading to species reestablishment in the lowlands—a region historically devoid of bears due to human presence and fragmentation. The study highlights the ecological significance of bears, which restore diverse interactions, while also underscoring complex conservation challenges, including conflict mitigation and legal obligations, that would need addressing if recolonization were to occur.

Diserens, T. A., Churski, M., Bubnicki, J. W., Stępniak, K., Pekach, A., Selva, N., & Kuijper, D. P. J. (2020). A dispersing bear in Białowieża Forest raises important ecological and conservation management questions for the central European lowlands. Global Ecology and Conservation, 23, e01190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01190