“The death of a 58-year-old woman killed by a bear in the Bieszczady Mountains is not just a tragedy or an ‘accident,’ but above all a dramatic consequence of the state’s long-standing careless approach to wild predators,” says Marcin Możdżonek, president of Poland’s Supreme Hunting Council. In an interview with Gazeta Polska, he warns that letting nature run unchecked, yielding to activists, and failing to rationally manage populations of large predators and wild boars is leading to an escalation of human-animal conflicts.
Poland is still shaken by the death of the woman attacked by a bear in the Bieszczady Mountains. Some will say it was a tragedy and an accident. Others argue it was the result of state negligence and the failure to implement proper procedures. What conclusions should the state draw from this story?
In my opinion, this was a failure of procedures and of the state itself. This is what happens when there is a careless policy regarding the management of natural resources.
The nature surrounding us is extremely valuable, and everyone understands that. But if we want to preserve it for future generations in the same condition — or even better — we must keep it under control. We must regulate it and keep it within limits. That is what is truly natural. Just as there are forest management plans covering decades or even centuries, there are also breeding and management plans for wild game. Every civilized country operates this way. The Scandinavian countries are a perfect example. There, predators are studied, data is collected, and scientists are consulted. The carrying capacity of hunting grounds and habitats is analyzed. It is possible to calculate how many individuals of a given species can live in our forests. Everything has to make sense. If we let things run wild, dangerous and extreme imbalances emerge.
In the case of large predators, experts are saying there are too many relative to habitat capacity. We have similar situations with moose, bison, and invasive alien species such as raccoons. We have absolutely no strategy whatsoever.
Can nature not handle itself?
I hear that often from activists. Yes, nature can manage itself — and that is precisely the problem for humans. Without regulation, we will not help ourselves. This comes down to priorities. I place human life above the lives of animals or plants. I get the impression activists do the opposite. No reasonable person would agree with that.
In July last year, Poland’s General Directorate for Environmental Protection approved the culling of three bears in the Cisna municipality. The reduction was carried out by Slovaks, where there have also been cases of bear attacks on humans. In Poland, however, it could not be done. Why does it almost always look this way in our country — whenever someone decides on culling, the decision is immediately challenged and the state eventually backs down?
Pseudo-ecological organizations and activists raise an uproar. Their goal is to generate noise, and culling is a media-friendly issue. But nowhere else in the world does it work like this. In left-liberal Canada, when there is a problem — a bear, cougar, or wolf approaching people — decisions are made locally, not by the state’s central authorities. There is no endless debating.
Meanwhile, in Poland, an entire business has formed around this debate. Outrage allows people to set up foundations, collect grants, and pretend to protect teddy bears. They can organize fundraising campaigns to “save animals.” They can “adopt” bees. None of this would exist if we began rationally managing natural resources. That is what this fight is really about.
Politicians in Warsaw, sitting behind desks, in parliamentary benches, or in hotel beds reserved for MPs, do not see what is happening in local communities — especially those far from the capital. It is absurd. If Deputy Environment Minister Mikołaj Dorożała went to the Bieszczady Mountains today and spoke with local residents, it would be an unpleasant experience for him. He would see how people in predator-threatened municipalities assess his policies. The system is simply working terribly.
Even when decisions are made to cull large predators, they are burdened with so many regulations and requirements that they often become impossible to carry out. In 2024, approval was granted for the culling of around 95 wolves, but ultimately only 20 animals were shot.
From your conversations with hunters, do you believe tragedies like the one in the Bieszczady Mountains could have been avoided?
That is impossible to say with certainty. We are dealing with wild animals, after all. But one thing should be noted: wild animals are losing their fear and respect for humans. They are afraid of nothing. They go wherever they want, whenever they want, at any time of day.
Scenes involving wild boars or moose in cities have become commonplace. Wolves are being spotted around Warsaw. We have a problem because we are not managing things rationally and are disrupting what humans once conditioned wild animals to feel — respect and fear toward humans as a potential threat in the natural evolutionary struggle.
It may sound like a legend, but it is a law of nature: where an animal fears for itself or its young, it does not appear. Yet we have recently seen footage of a mother bear with cubs casually jumping over a fence near someone’s house. Another tragedy would not be hard to imagine.
The ministry proposed a special bear-deterrence task force at a cost of 16 million złoty. The team is supposed to scare animals away using various methods. Work began in August and was finalized at the end of March. It may not be an ideal start, but perhaps it is the right direction?
Rational management also means keeping populations under control. That produces results. Nobody is saying all wolves or bears should be wiped out because they are dangerous. There is a place for every species. But habitats and forests have a certain carrying capacity. There are too many bison in the Białowieża Forest, and they are damaging farmland. Wolves kill livestock and domestic dogs. Unnecessary human-animal conflicts are emerging.
I can already hear activists saying: “Hunters talk about environmental carrying capacity, which means they want to shoot animals.”
This is not a concept invented by hunters. Terms such as “habitat carrying capacity” are scientific concepts, not hunting terminology. Experts and specialists are capable of estimating how many animals can live in a given area while keeping the population healthy.
Would hunters like wolf culling to return?
No. Hunters do not need that at all. The Polish Hunting Association does not want wolves to be hunted again. Nor do we want to hunt moose or bears. The ministry created this problem, so the ministry should deal with it.
If those species were placed on the list of game animals, we would automatically have to bear the costs of managing them and paying compensation. Let me remind you that the Polish Hunting Association does not receive a single złoty in state subsidies or grants. We carry out all tasks assigned to us while funding ourselves through membership fees and our own activities.
The state created this situation, and now the Polish Hunting Association would be expected to pay compensation because hunting obligations on those species returned? No, thank you.
What we are calling for is for the state to finally get to work — to create a strategy and, above all, to at least count how many uncontrolled individuals of these species actually exist. There can be no regulation or culling without knowledge of baseline population numbers.
Contrary to all the amateurish shouting, hunters do not walk into forests at random and shoot whichever animals they please. We operate according to hunting plans based on many years of data, observations, and the knowledge of local governments and the State Forests. That applies to game species because it is our statutory duty.
It is hard to imagine wolf hunting becoming a major business…
We would immediately be flooded with compensation claims worth tens of millions of złoty. Wolves and moose cause major losses, especially in agriculture and forestry.
I would like to discuss wild boars in cities for a moment. Warsaw is currently in the spotlight, but now other cities are following. In Łódź, the culling target is expected to reach 2,000 animals. Can this problem be solved?
If we value human life above animal life, then we should solve it. Today, the only effective method is culling. Capturing and euthanizing these boars. People may dislike it, but that is reality.
Sound deterrents, scent deterrents, or “anti-boar” trash bins are merely cosmetic measures. People also talk about driving the animals away, which is currently illegal because it violates environmental protection laws. There is no other method.
Wild boars have lived in Warsaw for years, contrary to claims by celebrities and pseudo-celebrities who say hunters are driving them out of forests. These are Warsaw boars, but they are still wild animals, and more continue to be born. Their instincts are the same. They have not become humanized, no matter how charming the names we give them.
Today there are more than 5,000 wild boars in Warsaw. Of course, authorities can choose to do nothing. They can act against reason, but there will be no happy ending. We are warning people — this is not about hunting in cities, because hunters cannot and do not want to do that. We are warning that this will end badly because the scale of the phenomenon is too large.
Did you see the photos from the operation to shoot the wild boar named “Henio”? Dozens of people were involved in the culling of a single animal. I will ask again: is it even possible to deal with this problem?
I would not dismiss it that way. It was a wild animal. And yes, dozens of people were involved, but not all because of the boar itself — many were there because of the crowd.
But the animal was trapped inside a playground…
These operations are dynamic. Everything happens in motion. Security provided by the services was necessary, if only to ensure the safety of onlookers and bystanders. Many things can happen during such an operation. A wounded animal may charge before it dies. It is natural that such operations require major resources. And let me remind you that these actions in cities are not conducted by the Polish Hunting Association — there are many misconceptions about that as well.
Still, looking at the scale of the operation, it seems this will cost a lot of money.
There are alternative approaches. In Spain, bow hunting at night is popular. It is quiet and calm, yet just as effective as firearms. But that would require legal changes and, more importantly, a shift in public attitudes. I do not see that happening in the government.
Yet there does seem to be a growing sense of urgency at Warsaw City Hall.
In my opinion, it has become a necessity. For years, Warsaw authorities ignored the problem and effectively bred it. The situation has reached such a scale that there is no other option but to organize population reduction operations.
At what point was the mistake made? I remember writing about wild boars in cities back in 2014, and there was widespread enthusiasm. The prevailing view was that boars would simply live alongside us peacefully.
Wild boars can be very dangerous. We already have many incidents. People are suffering torn calves and thighs. A male boar can sever a femoral artery with its tusk and kill a person. What if it attacks a child? Are we supposed to say a wild boar in a sandbox is acceptable and let children play there? Anyone with even basic knowledge of how boars behave would never allow that.
This discussion has become irrational. Where exactly do supporters of wild boars in the capital draw the line? Torn calves? One dead shih tzu? Is that the only sacrifice they are willing to accept? What about broken legs, or a fatal car accident? What must happen before they finally allow the mayor to approve population reduction measures for Warsaw’s wild boars? The world has turned upside down.
As the Polish Hunting Association, you are involved in this debate. Do your opponents have any actual ideas?
Mostly ideas about collecting subsidies to buy anti-boar trash bins. Then there are scent-based deterrents and food stations meant to lure animals far from human settlements. None of this will work. Boars reproduce, return, and adapt.
We have a major problem. In Warsaw alone, there were 341 traffic accidents involving wild boars in 2025. Emergency services carried out 8,800 interventions. The city employs five hunters full-time. What are the costs of that?
The only rational solution is proper wildlife management and reducing the boar population. Right now, actions will have to be carried out on a larger scale because the problem is serious, but afterward it should be maintained at levels that remain largely invisible to residents.
Let us add that the Polish Hunting Association is not formally a party to this matter…
Definitely not. Hunting cannot legally be conducted within city areas, so such matters are outside the Association’s jurisdiction. Local governments must solve the problem. At present, they cannot even do that effectively because they lack legal tools. The law is structured in such a way that municipalities cannot even pay a company to carry out culling operations. Regional audit chambers challenge such expenditures.
The law should change.
A few months ago, we spoke about hatred directed at hunters. Now it seems you have once again become the target of attacks after joining the presidential Climate and Environment Council.
Half-jokingly, I would say I treat that hatred as a compliment. I am glad it was noticed. The hatred, anger, and fury of activists and celebrities only prove one thing — it was the right decision. Someone like me, heading a 134,000-member NGO that carries out state tasks on a voluntary basis, should have a voice with the president. It is good that practitioners now have representation.
Still, what Mikołaj Dorożała did must have affected you. Let me remind readers that he took your comments about Łukasz Litewka out of context at a time when public opinion was focused on Litewka’s death. He attempted to force your resignation.
He crossed the line of decency. Mr. Mikołaj Dorożała is a terrible official and a poor human being. I do not wish to comment further.