Slovakian Bear Attacks Stopped by Use of Handguns

Public domain map showing area of the two bear attacks. 

On February 15, 2026, a Slovenian father and son used a handgun or handguns to defend against an attacking European brown bear, ursus arctos. From bernama.com:

Environment state secretary Filip Kuffa said the father and son had been inspecting timber in a mountain forest with a hunting dog when the bear attacked unexpectedly.

According to Mr Kuffa, the father fired several shots from his pistol in self-defence, but the bear knocked him to the ground and bit him repeatedly.

His son then shot and killed the animal with a handgun.

The incident has been verified by multiple accounts from Slovakian sources. It is unclear whether there was one or two handguns or what caliber they were. The attack happened very fast, with little or no warning. The bear grabbed the father and they tumbled down a steep slope. The son had to be sure he would not shoot the father who was underneath the bear. The father was 57 years old. The attack took place near Ružomberok, in the Zilina province in north central Slovakia.

Defense against bears with handguns is unusual in Europe because of highly restrictive firearms laws. However, 2% of adults in Slovakia have a permit for concealed carry of handguns. This is a very large number for Europe. 8.2% of adults in the United States have concealed carry permits. There are 29 of 50 states in which no permit is required to carry a handgun, concealed or openly. There are nine states in which it is difficult to obtain a permit to carry. For example, in California, only about .6% of adults have a permit to carry.

While researching the most recent defensive firing of a handgun against a bear in Slovakia, a previous incident was uncovered. The incident occurred near Sučany, about 30 miles to the east of Ružomberok. From praguemonitor.com:

Over the weekend, a man walking his dog near the village of Sučany, close to Martin in northwestern Slovakia, was attacked by an 18-year-old female bear. In an act of self-defense, the man shot the bear with a legally held weapon. TA3 television reported that even warning shots fired into the air were ineffective in deterring the bear, which was stopped by a fatal shot just a meter away from the man. The police are currently investigating the incident.

The weekend referred to would have been July 8-9, 2023.  Spiegel is quoted as saying 12 shots were fired, two as warning shots, with the final fatal shot fired from 1 meter away. As quoted from Spiegel:

  Jul 15, 2023 – Summary by Spiegel First he shot twice in the air, then ten times at the animal — the last bullet was fatal: In Slovakia, a man repelled a bear attack with a pistol.

In the most recent case, the bear was also a female, with very young cubs in a den. Bear attacks in Slovenia have resulted in a culling of bears.  A recent academic paper showed Slovenia as suffering from the highest density of human-bear conflicts. Local bear density was found to be one of the most important factors. The population of bears in Slovenia is estimated at 1,300, according to the BBC.  In 2004, the Slovenian bears were protected, and no longer listed as a game species.  In 2010 the bear population was estimated at 500, increasing at about 20% per year. A cull of 350 bears out of a population of 1,300 would stabilize the population of bears.

©2026 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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