Spate of deadly bear attacks in Russia leaves 35 people dead, RIA reports

MOSCOW: A spate of deadly bear attacks has left 35 people dead across Russia since the start of the spring, with the latest victim a security guard at a holiday camp in Kamchatka, Russia’s RIA state news agency reported on Wednesday.

The number of deaths has risen sharply in recent weeks, rising to 35 from 22 as of early October, according to RIA. Russia’s population of brown bears has more than doubled in the last three decades to 308,000, in part due to shorter and milder winters. Some regions have struggled to control bear numbers and the government said in September it was drawing up measures to make it easier cull them.