A bear has in Croatian National Park Plitvice Lakes, 130 kilometers southwest of Zagreb, attacked a walker and injured him by biting his arms. The 64-year-old man, a local resident, was taken to the hospital in the county capital Gospic, Croatian television HRT reported on its website. Doctors described his injuries as not serious.
The incident occurred late Friday evening. According to HRT, the man who was attacked said he was walking about 800 meters from his house. The animal ran towards him from a pasture, knocked him over, bit him and then ran away again. The Plitvice Lakes National Park is a popular tourist destination with its picturesque waterfalls that connect the 16 lakes.
About 1000 people live in Croatia Brown bears in the wild. Croatian wildlife conservation attempts to keep conflicts between bears and humans to a minimum through measures such as monitoring, public relations, bear-proof garbage cans and regulating the population through shooting. Bears therefore rarely attack humans in Croatia. (dpa)
