Mt Pindos. The national park of Valia Calda (The Warm Valley). (VI) Πίνδος. Εθνικός Δρυμός Βάλια Κάλντα. (VI)

The main stream at the bottom of the valley is called in Greek "Αρκουδόρεμμα" (Arkoudorema), which means the "bear stream".  There is a healthy population of the Eurasian Brown Bear living in the area. In the last few years, a new motorway was built, passing through their habitat, and great care was taken to have the least impact on them. They have built many long bridges and dug tunnels through the mountain tops, so the bears would pass under the bridges. Also the road was fenced, so bears would not cross it. But bears, living in the area for so long, follow their old paths in search of food or water. And more than once have been seen climbing over the fences and crossing the motorway sometimes successfully sometimes not. Usually, when there is a young cub following the mother, it is fatal for the little one. Although there are warning signs on the roads, drivers do not pay the attention they should and  accidents happen. Sometimes the bears enter the villages in search of food and do a lot of damage to vineyards and the beehives. So they are not very popular with the locals either.
I was hoping i might be lucky to photograph one bear there, but i m afraid you ll have to be content with just the story about them.
Φωτογραφίες από το Αρκουδόρεμμα. Τον κύριο χώρο διαβίωσης της Αρκούδας της Πίνδου.