A brown bear that had injured five people when it rampaged through a northern Slovak town, has been shot dead.

Environment Minister Tomas Taraba is confident that after a 10-day hunt using drone and biometric technology, the town could breathe easy again.

Video footage went viral when the bear was captured bounding through the streets of Liptovsky Mikulas, on 17 March.

One image appeared to show the bear swiping at a man on a pavement. Five people, including a 10-year-old girl, were injured, and two were taken to hospital with gashes and scratches, with another left traumatised by the attacks.

However, opposition politicians believe hunters may have shot a different bear and are calling for answers.

Five injured in terrifying walk through town

The town of Liptovský Mikuláš, nestled in the foothills of the Tatra mountains near popular ski resorts, has spent the past week in a state of emergency and fearing for a return of a giant brown bear which had attacked several locals and had chased a couple pushing their child in a buggy, who admitted they were “lucky to escape unharmed”.

One video showed the bear swiping at a man on the pavement, while other footage showed it running past a car with its driver looking startled. Patrols were ordered to “eliminate” the predator on sight after it left victims aged between 10 and 72, with bites and scratches, and one of them almost losing an eye.

Five people in total were injured, although all were all able to return home after a short time in the hospital.

State of emergency lifted

Residents had been asked not to leave their homes, particularly in the early and late hours, while animal hunters arrived at the town to seek out the bear. A thermal imaging drone was deployed as the town’s mayor issued a state of emergency.

That however, has now been called off after Mr Tarabath went on Facebook to break the news that the bear had been shot and destroyed at around 9.50pm on Tuesday 26 March, and he thanked all those involved in the operation, who he said had used patrolling drones equipped with with high-resolution cameras, thermal imaging and the latest surveillance tech to identify the bear.

The animal killed was thought to be three years old and weighing around 70kg, according to a local news agency.

Doubts raised on identity of bear

Nevertheless, opposition politicians have called on Mr Taraba to clarify what happened and accused the government of using the issue ahead of the presidential election on 6 April.

Michal Wiezik, an environmental campaigner and MEP from opposition party Progressive Slovakia, said: “I’m certain it’s not the same bear, it’s obvious.”

Both the ministry and State Natural Protection Authority had said previously they were searching for a male bear weighing upwards of 100kg, but the shot bear was a female weighing 67.9kg and measuring 152cm, much smaller than the bear in Liptovský Mikuláš.

Call for wildlife protection to be lifted

Rudolf Huliak, an MP for the right-wing Slovak National Party – which is in charge of the environment ministry – told local media, the incident proved the need to loosen EU environmental protections on wildlife, which prevent animals such as bears and wolves from being hunted.

Increased environmental protection in Central and Eastern Europe since the fall of communism in 1989 has meant bears have returned to their natural habitats across the Carpathian mountain range, which stretches up from Romania through western Ukraine and on to Slovakia and Poland. The estimated bear population in Slovakia is said to be stable at around 1,275 animals.

Attacks on the increase

There have been several bear attacks in Slovakia in recent years, including a fatal attack in 2021, reported at the time to be the first in Slovakia for a century.

The body of a 57-year-old man was found in Banskô Valley, in the Liptov region, with his head, hip and neck mauled and fresh bear prints at the site.