Along with Finland, Slovenia is one of the best countries in Europe for seeing brown bears. It has so many that bears from Slovenia have been relocated to neighbouring countries such as Austria, Italy and France.
A little background
Brown bears were common in Slovenia back in the 18th century. Since then, habitat loss, the spread of agriculture and regular hunting took a heavy toll, and by the early 20th century only 30 to 40 were left. Thanks to conservation work and hunting restrictions, the number today is thought to be around 500 to 700.
My day with the brown bears
On a recent visit I was keen to see a brown bear, and a little research showed they are seen near the town of Markovec, about an hour’s drive from the capital, Ljubljana. A local man there has built what are called bear hides — small tree houses set in the dense Markovec forest.
The idea is simple: you wait at one of these hides and hope a bear turns up. With only one day to spare, I decided to sit it out in a hide for the full day.
The morning session ran from 6 am to 11 am. No luck. After lunch I came back for another go at 2 pm.
Around 3 pm a red fox made a surprise appearance, simply passing by.
We waited another hour. Around 4, there was a thundering sound from the ground, and when we looked out from the hide, it was brown bear cubs running and playing in the forest.
They came right out in front of the hide and gave us some good photo opportunities. After a while they moved off, and then a big male appeared. He looked the area over, rested on the rocks for a time, and finally left us at 8 pm.
Worth noting: at this time of year there is daylight in Slovenia until about 9 pm, so our afternoon session was full of action and time with the bears.
When is the best time to see brown bears in Slovenia?
The guide told me the peak months for sightings are May to September. In winter the bears generally hibernate.
These are some of the pictures I came back with. We are planning a trip for Slovenian bears alongside the landscapes of Bosnia and Croatia on an upcoming Balkan photography tour.
