Large carnivore populations are expanding across south Europe.
Numbers of bears are rising in Spain, Slovenia, Italy and Romania, and there’s evidence of higher numbers in Kosovo.
Many countries are ill-equipped to manage this surge, and do not help the local population cope with bears.
Instead they pay off farmers who lose their livestock to hungry bears, and shoot dead the animals that cause problems.
But money and murder do not solve the problem.
Bears and humans will have to get used to each other.
Bears Uncovered investigates why bear numbers are rising, why they come into conflict with humans, and the best solutions for co-existence between the two species.
Bears Uncovered is an investigative journalism project, published in partnership with Scena9 (Romania), Kall-xo (Kosovo) and Citizens Channel (Albania).
The project is financed by a grant from Investigative Investigative Journalism for Europe IJ4EU and Journalism Fund Europe.
Ovidiu Dunel-Stancu
Ovidiu Dunel-Stancu is a film producer and journalist, specialising in alternative culture and animal welfare, who has worked for Vice, The Black Sea, and was executive producer of comedy hit Doua Lozuri (Two Lottery Tickets, 2016).
Michael Bird
Michael Bird is a freelance journalist currently staying in Bucharest. His work has appeared in Vice, Decat O Revista, The Independent on Sunday, Politico, EU Observer and Mediapart. Formerly editor of The Black Sea and The Diplomat-Bucharest, he has also reported as a freelancer for BBC Radio and Deutsche Welle.
Stefano Petrelli
Stefano Petrelli is a journalist and press officer based in Rome, Italy. He mainly writes about healthcare, clinical and experimental research. In the past he has written about the environment and energy.
Vjosa Cerkini
Vjosa Çerkini is a journalist and international documentary filmmaker from Pristina, Kosovo. She reports for German TV stations DW, MDR and regional broadcasters in the Balkans and is involved in documentary projects in the USA and Europe. She investigates topics on crime, politics, society and human rights from Kosovo, Albania, Montenegro and other western Balkan countries.
Cristian Gagea
Cristi Gagea is a film editor and executive producer for Film Boutique.
Andrei Cotrut
Andrei Cotrut is an illustrator, animator and comic books artist, who can be found under the moniker of Krank. He is from the the city of angels – Constanta, Romania.
Razvan Zamfira
Razvan Zamfira is a Romanian information designer with a background in architecture and urban studies. In 2018 he founded Studio Interrobang, a Romanian design studio focused primarily on information design and data visualization.
Diego Ravier
Diego Ravier is a freelance photojournalist, multimedia storyteller and educator dedicated to documenting stories of social significance.
Thanks for helping us compile this data:
Robin Rigg, Istvan Imecs, Harri Norberg, Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, Oleg Kirichuk (Ministry of the Environmental Protection, Ukraine), Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture, Peep Männil, Estonian Environment Agency, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry in Bulgaria, Alexander Stojanov, Jānis Ozoliņš, Manuel Díaz, Fundación Oso Pardo, Professor Djuro Huber, Igor Trbojević, WWF Bulgaria, WWF Italy, National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise

Also thanks to Paul Simula for pointing out the similarity between the Ikea meal and bear goulash for the film Bear Uncovered: Crisis.
The production of this investigation was supported by a grant from Investigative Journalism for Europe IJ4EU and Journalism Fund Europe.