Bear damage reports hit record in Finland

Reports of bear damage to farms and livestock outside Finland’s reindeer herding area have reached a record 1,700 this year, Yle reported. The figure was recorded by November, and more reports from the autumn are still being processed.

The total is 1,000 higher than the number reported during all of last year. In 2013, there were just under 200 cases. Bears have particularly damaged feed bales and apiaries; fencing has been used to protect beehives, while feed bales are harder to secure.

By early November, compensation decisions for bear damage outside the reindeer herding area exceeded 770,000 euros. About 300,000 euros of that was for livestock killed or injured by bears, including cattle, sheep, horses and dogs. The state does not cover every loss, including traffic damage caused by bears, hunting dogs killed during bear hunts, or damage totalling less than 170 euros in a year.

Finland’s bear population has tripled since 2000. The densest populations are in the eastern regions of Kainuu, North Karelia and South Karelia near the border, according to the Natural Resources Institute Finland. About a third of bears living outside the reindeer herding area are in North Karelia.

Nearly 500 cases of bear damage to agriculture and livestock have been reported in North Karelia this year, more than twice the number in 2025. The greatest number of reports came from the eastern border municipalities of Kitee, Tohmajärvi and Lieksa.

Anne Könönen, a rural affairs officer in Tohmajärvi, said she had never inspected so many bear-related losses in her 30-year career. She has made about 70 visits to farms that reported damage this year. Not every report results in compensation: a local wildlife management association’s predator damage inspector also examines the site before the rural affairs officer decides whether compensation is due.

Compensation paid for bear damage to agriculture and livestock in North Karelia has risen from 14,000 euros in 2013 and about 54,000 euros in 2022 to nearly 290,000 euros this year. Könönen said payments for livestock losses are made faster than payments for agricultural damage, which farmers may not receive until the following summer.

North Karelia game management chief Juha Kuittinen said the increase in damage was a direct result of the growing bear population. He said the population continued to grow after bear hunting outside the reindeer herding area was suspended for a couple of years following appeals.

This year, the Finnish Wildlife Agency issued 182 permits for bear hunting outside the reindeer herding area. North Karelia received the most, with all 118 of its permits used. Kuittinen said hunting would not reduce bear damage quickly.