This unnerving photo reminds us why we shouldn’t feed bears

When photojournalist Jasper Doest arrived in the Transylvanian Alps to document the coexistence of people and wildlife National GeographicIn his November issue he planned to take photographs in the middle of the forests of the Southern Carpathians.

“It is a beautiful mountain landscape with dense forests, a very rugged place,” says Doest.

Instead, he found a story on the side of the road – and was introduced to a group of bears begging for food.

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His close encounter led to some incredible photos. But it also underlines the significant obstacles that conservationists in Romania and elsewhere face in their efforts to restore and protect wild areas.

Why you don’t feed the bears

Doest changed his approach to the assignment after meeting a tourist who told him she had been feeding bears on the side of the road in the conservation area.

“She started showing us pictures,” says Doest. “They were great. We realized this would be a good starting point for discussing the acceptance of conservation efforts within a community.”

Tourists enchanted by the region’s charismatic brown bears may give in to the temptation to feed them, with disastrous consequences.

They are usually shy when interacting with people. It only takes a few meals to get bears hooked on human food – and then they don’t stay in the wild for long. Instead, they may become dependent on humans for sustenance, causing more bear-human collisions and putting bears in their crosshairs if they get too close.

There were 95 bear incidents in the region in 2023, and this summer a hiker was fatally mauled, prompting officials to increase the country’s annual hunting quota from 220 to 481 bears. Doest also documented a mauled mother bear whose leg was lost in a traffic accident or a fall.