Bring back Brown Bears ?

Bears caught on camera trap crusin Joe Brophy's lane-way

 Brown Bears
In an interview I heard lately on how the European Beaver has been successfully reintroduced into Scotland, (the first wild born kits for about 150years)  the speaker spoke of how he would like to see the reintroduction of other extinct British animals like the Wolf, Lynx and Bear.

This got me thinking of how these predatory animals could exist in a more densely populated island like the UK in this millennium. Wolves and Lynx may kill a few livestock on farmers but with  a compensation scheme like the one that exists for the re-introduction of birds of prey,  this may be possible.  Neither species pose any real harm to humans and co-exist in other European countries with no major problem.

I once had a near encounter with a bear when walking through forests near Medford Oregon USA when out with a friend Joe Brophy who lives in that area. We happened across a fresh mound of bear dung still warm with bits of berries  in-cased, walking on another bit we heard a violent crashing of shrubs, thinking we had disturbed a mother bear protecting her cubs, my first reaction was to pick up a rock, I stood still (I read that this was the thing to do though not my instinct). We saw a dark creature in the distance coming towards then stop in its tracks look at us and turn back, we were obviously too close, this was our warning, we headed back towards from where we came, relived after the sheer drama of the possibility of a bear attack.
When reflecting  later Joe asked me what I was going to do with the rock I told him “I would have thrown it at the bear if it got to close“.  When Joe remarked  that it would have bounced off the bear like a ping pong ball would in fact make it more fierce I felt stupid, throwing, a rock at a 250 lb charging bear with the power to knock my head off with one blow of its mighty claw, would have been as dumb as it gets!

In the U.S.A there is approximately one brown bear fatality a year.  Victim's are mainly outdoor enthusiasts campers or hikers. Brown bears tend to be shy and avoid human contact  but can be get familiar with people and associate them with food. This can mean trouble, when sometimes bears encroach on settlements causing confrontation.

I think to reintroduce bears into the wild in Ireland  may not succeed our wild habitats are too small and with the lack of extensive natural forestation may not suit.  Scotland I could see working as they still have untouched expanses of forestation.

Wouldn’t it be great  to hear the growling of a bear in Wicklow or the howl of a wolf on a full moon in Glendalough on a frosty winters night. If I were to talk about seeing lynx at the sally gap people wouldn’t think I was talking about a discarded men’s deodorant can.