On Wednesday, the story of a bear cub being spotted in in Mirabelio forest in northern Lithuania caught the attention of the whole country. The cub was spotted by forester Laimonas Kiaulėnas, who shared the story with LRT.lt.
On March 27, he was driving through the forest during work hours, checking on a logging site. After inspecting the area, he began his journey back towards Kupiškis, the nearest town.
At the edge of the forest, Kiaulėnas noticed an animal crossing the road in front of his car. Sensing something unusual, he stopped the vehicle, took out his phone and began recording.
"The animal was about 100 metres away, so I couldn’t clearly make out what it was. I thought maybe it was a dog. I tried zooming in, but it was still unclear. At first, it was walking, but once it started running, its movements made me realise it definitely wasn’t a dog," the forester recalled.
When he later showed the footage to a friend, they agreed it was a bear cub. Other experts who viewed the video confirmed this as well.
Interestingly, the cub was not all that small – it was clearly from last year’s litter. The mother bear was likely nearby, as cubs typically follow closely behind. This one may have simply been momentarily distracted and lagged behind.
The sighting occurred on the edge of Mirabelis Forest, around five kilometres from Kupiškis in northern Lithuania.
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Kiaulėnas said that this is not the first time bears have been documented in the Kupiškis District – tracks have been found, and they have also been filmed multiple times by hunters’ trail cameras.
However, according to Kiaulėnas, there had been no previous confirmed sightings of a bear in person – and certainly not of a cub, which until now had never been documented anywhere in Lithuania.
So how does the forester feel about encountering an animal that has sparked nationwide interest? "Well, I was just in the right place at the right time, but still – it’s exciting and very unusual," said Kiaulėnas.
Regularly travelling through forests for work and spending his free time hunting, Kiaulėnas has encountered a variety of wild animals – moose, deer, roe deer, badgers, foxes and more. Once, he even saw a wolf in a field during the daytime – an exceptionally rare occurrence.
Would he like to see the cub again? "I certainly won’t go looking for it on purpose – that could be dangerous, since the mother bear would definitely not be pleased. But as I’m constantly driving through those areas, there’s always a chance our paths will cross again," he said.
Why is this significant?
In a press release issued on Wednesday by the Lithuanian Hunters and Anglers Association expressed delight that Lithuania can now take pride in another native species – the bear has given birth to a cub.
"We’ve been recording male and female bears in Lithuania for several years now, and there have been rumours about cubs, but this is the first time a naturalist has managed to capture one on camera," said the association’s head, Laimonas Daukša.
According to him, until now, bears in Lithuania were considered extinct – despite their regular appearances – because only species that raise young within the country are classified as resident wildlife. Species that merely pass through are not included.
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