Habituation in Romanian brown bears (Ursus arctos): Challenges and lessons from an urban environment

Habituation in wild animals can lead to several conflict situations and contribute to a generally negative perception of these animals among people. When a wild animal becomes reliant on human-derived food, dangerous situations can arise, posing risks to both animals and humans. The brown bear (Ursus arctos) is a controversial species in Romania, as it is protected but also responsible for incidents with livestock, crops, or even humans. In our study, we aimed to identify the factors that facilitate bear visits to the town of Băile Tușnad and assess their extent. Using city surveillance cameras, we analysed bear behaviour in relation to the use of electric fences and the presence of garbage, seeking to better understand which factors should be mitigated or adjusted to improve the safety of both bears and citizens. Our results supported our hypotheses that frequent bear visits to garbage container islands are linked to the availability of garbage and insufficient protective measures, such as non-activated electric fences. As the frequency of bear visits increased, we observed a decrease in fearful behaviours, such as hesitation before entering the container islands or scanning their surroundings while foraging. This suggests that the bears of Băile Tușnad, in addition to showing signs of food conditioning, were also exhibiting increased tolerance to human activity, both of which could serve as precursors to habituation in long term. Although our findings were not suitable for testing the existence of individual personalities, they did confirm individual differences among the bears.