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Brown Bear Population by Country 2026: Russia vs Romania

Romania has roughly ten times as many brown bears per square kilometre of forest as Russia, yet Russia, with the world's most bears, lost at least 16 people to bear attacks in September 2026 alone.

No. 1: Slovakia
10 places
Current as of October 20, 2026, 07:45 EDT

01Final list

The leading AIs each built their own list of ten independently. Here is one result that is easy to check: every place has a reason, a source, and the list of AIs that included it.

Order: from most to least AI agreement.

A bright badge means this AI put the entry on its list. A dim badge means it did not.

1
Slovakia
About 52–103 bears per 1,000 km² of forest, depending on the count (genetics about 1,000–1,275, LCIE 2,000). A cull of 350 was approved in 2025 even though bin zones were widened.
Included it: Claude, ChatGPT, Meta, Gemini, DeepSeek.
In their lists: Claude: 3 · ChatGPT: 4 · Meta: 2 · Gemini: 3 · DeepSeek: 3
What each AI noted 5
- Claudeplace 3
  About 1,300 bears (estimates run from 1,000 to 3,000) among 5.4 million people. After a fatal attack in 2025 the government approved a cull of up to 350.
  Source ↗
- ChatGPTplace 4
  A recent genetics-based estimate around 1,000–1,275 is sharply lower than older official or hunter-linked figures near 2,000–3,000.
  Source ↗
- Metaplace 2
  1,300 bears for 5.4M people — 350-bear cull approved in 2025 sparked EU conservation dispute
- Geminiplace 3
  Dense Carpathian forest refuge supporting roughly 2,500 to 3,000 bears right alongside heavily frequented mountain trails.
  Source ↗
- DeepSeekplace 3
  Slovakia's 2,000 bears are squeezed into 19,259 km² of forest — a density near 104 per 1,000 km² — and the country has paid bear damage since 1962.
  Source ↗
5 AIs put it here
Source ↗
2
Romania
Densest bear country: about 150–184 bears per 1,000 km² of forest after a 2025 DNA count of 10,419–12,770 (older figure 6,825). It relies on culling more than prevention.
Included it: Claude, ChatGPT, Meta, Gemini, DeepSeek.
In their lists: Claude: 2 · ChatGPT: 2 · Meta: 5 · Gemini: 2 · DeepSeek: 2
What each AI noted 5
- Claudeplace 2
  Europe's densest bear country: about 173 bears per 1,000 km² of forest. A 2025 DNA census found 10,419–12,770 bears, and the legal quota was raised to 481.
  Source ↗
- ChatGPTplace 2
  A new national DNA estimate puts the count at more than 10,000—far above the older 6,825 figure used in Europe’s 2024 assessment.
  Source ↗
- Metaplace 5
  Europe's densest outside Russia — new 2025 DNA study 10,657 to 12,787 bears vs old 6,000 estimate, double the count
  Source ↗
- Geminiplace 2
  Europe's highest human-bear tension zone outside Russia with over 6,000 to 8,000 bears concentrated in the Carpathians.
  Source ↗
- DeepSeekplace 2
  Europe's largest brown-bear population outside Russia now has a cull quota of 969 — and a count that has moved from 6,825 to more than 10,000 in under a decade.
  Source ↗
5 AIs put it here
Source ↗
3
Croatia
About 41–48 bears per 1,000 km² of forest (807 or 937 bears, both from genetic estimates). Fenced roads cut bear road deaths by 63%, but hunting-rights holders pay compensation, not the state.
Included it: Claude, ChatGPT, Meta, Gemini, DeepSeek.
In their lists: Claude: 4 · ChatGPT: 10 · Meta: 6 · Gemini: 5 · DeepSeek: 6
What each AI noted 5
- Claudeplace 4
  About 1,000 bears on 19,400 km² of forest, 38.5% of the land protected, and a partner in the programme that cut road deaths of bears by 63% on fenced stretches.
  Source ↗
- ChatGPTplace 10
  Croatia’s genetic estimate of 937 bears is part of the wider Dinaric-Pindos population of more than 4,000.
  Source ↗
- Metaplace 6
  1,000 bears in Dinaric-Pindos — 38.4% land protected, LIFE fences cut road deaths by almost 100%
  Source ↗
- Geminiplace 5
  Maintains an integrated bear management plan balancing hunting quotas, damage compensation, and human safety across the Dinaric Alps.
  Source ↗
- DeepSeekplace 6
  Croatia's 807 bears live in 19,466 km² of forest, with a ministry-named intervention team — but compensation is paid by hunting-rights holders, not the state.
  Source ↗
5 AIs put it here
Source ↗
More about the top three ↓
4
Sweden
The least crowded of Europe's big bear countries, at about 9–10 per 1,000 km² of forest. Licences were issued for nearly 500 bears, about a fifth of the population.
Included it: Claude, ChatGPT, Meta, Gemini, DeepSeek.
In their lists: Claude: 7 · ChatGPT: 5 · Meta: 4 · Gemini: 6 · DeepSeek: 10
What each AI noted 5
- Claudeplace 7
  About 2,450 bears in 280,000 km² of forest: roughly 9 per 1,000 km², the thinnest of the EU's big bear countries, yet licences for 486 were issued in 2023.
  Source ↗
- ChatGPTplace 5
  Sweden’s genetic monitoring estimated 2,824 bears post-hunt in 2022, within a Scandinavian population shared with Norway.
  Source ↗
- Metaplace 4
  2,800 bears managed down from 3,300 in 2008 — national target minimum 1,400 with DNA monitoring
  Source ↗
- Geminiplace 6
  Vast northern forests supporting around 2,500 to 2,900 bears with highly structured municipal monitoring and harvest limits.
  Source ↗
- DeepSeekplace 10
  Sweden has 2,804 bears and 27 per 100,000 people spread over 279,800 km² of forest — one of the lowest densities in this top 10, but a strong compensation and response system.
  Source ↗
5 AIs put it here
Source ↗
5
Finland
About 9–11 bears per 1,000 km² of forest but 31–43 per 100,000 people, with pressure concentrated in the east. It has a national plan, damage compensation and tests of bear-resistant bins.
Included it: Claude, ChatGPT, Meta, Gemini, DeepSeek.
In their lists: Claude: 6 · ChatGPT: 7 · Meta: 3 · Gemini: 9 · DeepSeek: 9
What each AI noted 5
- Claudeplace 6
  About 2,000 bears in the EU's largest forest after Sweden's (225,000 km²), and only 13% of the land protected. Counts rose from 1,740–1,925 in 2022 to 2,250–2,400 in later Yle reports.
  Source ↗
- ChatGPTplace 7
  Finland’s 2,175 bears belong to a cross-border Karelian population also shared with Norway and Russia.
  Source ↗
- Metaplace 3
  2,250-2,400 bears in 233,320 km² forest — state paid EUR 1.5M for 750 reindeer killed by bears in one year
  Source ↗
- Geminiplace 9
  Maintains a stable population of around 1,600 bears utilizing strict cross-border tracking alongside rural Scandinavian communities.
  Source ↗
- DeepSeekplace 9
  Finland has 2,119 bears and 38 per 100,000 people, but only 9.5 bears per 1,000 km² of forest — the risk is concentrated in the east, not nationwide.
  Source ↗
5 AIs put it here
Source ↗
6
Russia
The most bears (IUCN puts it above 100,000; the ministry says 307,900) but only 12–16 per 1,000 km² of forest. At least 16 fatal attacks came in September 2026.
Included it: Claude, ChatGPT, Meta, Gemini, DeepSeek.
In their lists: Claude: 8 · ChatGPT: 1 · Meta: 10 · Gemini: 10 · DeepSeek: 7
What each AI noted 5
- Claudeplace 8
  Perhaps 100,000–130,000 bears, or about 70–90 per 100,000 people. At least 16 people were killed in September 2026, and 35,000-rouble bounties were offered for bears.
  Source ↗
- ChatGPTplace 1
  The country’s forest denominator alone is about 8.31 million km²—so even a six-figure bear estimate produces a modest national forest-area rate.
  Source ↗
- Metaplace 10
  308,000 bears in 8.1M km² forest — 16 fatal attacks September 2026, 27,000 bears in Krasnoyarsk alone, waste management gaps
  Source ↗
- Geminiplace 10
  World's largest brown bear population at 100,000 to 130,000, where extreme geography creates vast wild expanses alongside severe seasonal human-bear encounters.
  Source ↗
- DeepSeekplace 7
  Russia has the world's largest brown-bear population — 130,000 by IUCN/LCIE, 307,900 by its own 2026 count — and at least 16 people were killed in September 2026 alone.
  Source ↗
5 AIs put it here
Source ↗
7
Slovenia
About 73–80 bears per 1,000 km² of forest, with a 24/7 intervention team and bear-proof bins that cut damage. It is the best-prepared country on the list, but counts range from 564 to 2,500.
Included it: Claude, Meta, Gemini, DeepSeek. Did not include: ChatGPT.
In their lists: Claude: 1 · Meta: 1 · Gemini: 1 · DeepSeek: 4
What each AI noted 4
- Claudeplace 1
  About 80 bears per 1,000 km² of forest, with 40% of the land protected. It is the one place where bears, bins and a six-year EU programme have all been tested together.
- Metaplace 1
  About 1,000 bears in 12,358 km² of forest — over 50 bears per 100 km² in core Dinaric areas, yet only 1-3 human contacts per year
  Source ↗
- Geminiplace 1
  Home to over 100 bears per 1,000 km² of forest and an exemplary bear intervention and compensation system.
  Source ↗
- DeepSeekplace 4
  A country of 2.1 million with 900 bears and 40% of its land protected — and a bear intervention group available around the clock.
  Source ↗
4 AIs put it here
Source ↗
8
Estonia
About 71–80 bears per 100,000 residents, the most per person in the EU, yet only about 0.1 compensation claims per bear. Beekeepers say paperwork stops them from claiming.
Included it: Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek. Did not include: ChatGPT, Meta.
In their lists: Claude: 5 · Gemini: 4 · DeepSeek: 5
What each AI noted 3
- Claudeplace 5
  The most bears per resident of any EU state outside Romania: about 75 per 100,000 people. Yet it has the lowest compensation claims per bear in Europe, about 0.1.
  Source ↗
- Geminiplace 4
  Highest bear per capita density in the Baltic region with nearly 1,100 bears in a nation of 1.3 million people.
  Source ↗
- DeepSeekplace 5
  Estonia has 980 bears in 24,384 km² of forest — 40 per 1,000 km² — but its compensation system is so bureaucratic that some beekeepers stopped reporting losses.
  Source ↗
3 AIs put it here
Source ↗
9
Bosnia and Herzegovina
About 39–46 bears per 1,000 km² of forest, close to Croatia, but only about 4% of land is protected and there is no state budget for prevention.
Included it: Claude, DeepSeek. Did not include: ChatGPT, Meta, Gemini.
In their lists: Claude: 10 · DeepSeek: 8
What each AI noted 2
- Claudeplace 10
  About 850–1,000 bears among 3.2 million people, but only 4.1% of the land is protected, the lowest on this list. I found almost no preparedness data.
  Source ↗
- DeepSeekplace 8
  Bosnia's 960 bears may be a minimum, with only 3.6% of land protected and no dedicated state budget for large-carnivore management.
2 AIs put it here
Source ↗
10
Japan (Hokkaido brown bears)
The national figure of about 48 per 1,000 km² of forest hides the real crowding: all ~12,000 bears live on Hokkaido. There the estimate is roughly 209 per 1,000 km² of forest and 222 per 100,000 people.
Included it: ChatGPT, DeepSeek. Did not include: Claude, Meta, Gemini.
In their lists: ChatGPT: 3 · DeepSeek: 1
What each AI noted 2
- ChatGPTplace 3
  All of Japan’s brown bears live on Hokkaido, where the latest prefectural materials list an estimated population and current bear-response resources.
  Source ↗
- DeepSeekplace 1
  One brown bear per 4.8 km² of Hokkaido forest — and one for every ~450 islanders.
  Source ↗
2 AIs put it here
Source ↗

02More about the top three

The ranking is above. Here is more about the three places at the top: what they are, why they are here, and what is worth knowing.

The three are compared on bear counts from different methods and years (DNA counts, older estimates, LCIE figures), so the densities are rough and not exactly comparable.

1Slovakia

No. 1 — Slovakia. On the lists of 5 of 5 AIs; median place there: 3. The AIs ranked it high because bear numbers are uncertain and a large cull was approved even after a fatal attack.

000 Sllovakia harta — Përpunuar prej Image:Slovakia-map.png nga User:Hipi Zhdripi . · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Did you know

A man killed by a bear in Slovakia's Low Tatras was described in the media as the country's first known deadly bear attack in about 100 years. Sources disagree on the exact history.
Source ↗

What it is: Carpathian country with a small, poorly counted bear population.
Its edge: Its bear count is the hardest to pin down, so the cull fight is sharpest.
Who should know: Useful for anyone who wants to see how a cull can be approved before the count is reliable.

Bears per 1,000 km² of forest52–103 bears per 1,000 km²
Founded1939
HeadquartersSchengen Area

Wikipedia · Wikidata

History

In 1993, after disputes over how the country should be governed, Czechoslovakia split peacefully and Slovakia became an independent country. [Source](https://www.prezident.sk/en/short-history/) — (voice only)
Source ↗

Keep in mind

Environmental groups say the 350-bear cull goes beyond the law. EU rules reportedly allow killing only after proven attacks or damage, and only if nothing else works. Some researchers put the population near 1,270 and call it stable.
Source ↗

Where to go further

Start with this English news story. It says Slovakia has no current bear count and plans a DNA count using hair and droppings from volunteers. Look first at the 1,012–1,275 estimate from 2022. — (voice only)
Source ↗

Video: Slovakia divided - Between Russia and Europe | DW Documentary · DW Documentary

Compare the top three ↓

2Romania

No. 2 — Romania. On the lists of 5 of 5 AIs; median place there: 2. The AIs ranked it here because it is Europe's densest bear country outside Russia, and its new DNA count roughly doubled the old one.

Did you know

By June 2026, nine people had been hurt by bears in Romania that year. Eight were foreign tourists, and some had fed the bears or wanted photos with them.
Source ↗

What it is: Carpathian country with the most bears in the EU.
Its edge: It has the highest bear density of the three, by a wide margin.
Who should know: Useful for travellers and locals: feeding or posing with bears led to most recent injuries.

Bears per 1,000 km² of forest150–184 bears per 1,000 km²
Founded1330
HeadquartersRomania

Wikipedia · Wikidata

Why it is here

Romania’s 2025 genetic study estimated 10,419 to 12,770 bears, based on more than 24,000 samples from 25 counties.
Source ↗
The same program delivered 1,140 electric fence systems and installed 150 camera or video monitoring systems for those fences.
Source ↗

Did you know

Romanian gendarmes can fine drivers twice at the same moment on the Transfăgărășan mountain road. One fine is for feeding a bear and one is for stopping on the national road.
Source ↗

Keep in mind

Romania already has non-lethal rules: fines for feeding bears, waste rules and electric-fence subsidies. One campaigner says they are not properly enforced. The environment ministry's estimate of 10,000 to 13,000 bears comes from a preliminary DNA study.
Source ↗

Where to go further

Open this article on Romania's April 2025 DNA census. Look first at the 10,419–12,770 range, then at the criticism from WWF Romania and other groups about how transparent the study was. — (voice only)
Source ↗

Video: The history of Romania explained in 10 minutes · Epimetheus

Compare the top three ↓

3Croatia

No. 3 — Croatia. On the lists of 5 of 5 AIs; median place there: 6. The AIs ranked it lower because it has fewer bears per forest area, plus a managed plan with fenced roads and compensation.

Did you know

Plitvice Lakes National Park says monitoring shows about 30 bears in the park at any one time. They cross its borders freely, and the park uses the bear as its symbol.
Source ↗

What it is: Balkan country with about 1,000 bears in the Dinaric Alps.
Its edge: Fenced roads cut bear road deaths by 63%, which is more than the other two show.
Who should know: Useful for people curious how fences and shared compensation can reduce bear conflicts.

Bears per 1,000 km² of forest41–48 bears per 1,000 km²
Founded1991
HeadquartersCroatia

Wikipedia · Wikidata

Why it is here

On the Rijeka–Zagreb motorway, Croatia installed 30 one-way doors and 6 escape ramps; electric fencing covered more than 60 km in selected sections.
Source ↗

History

In 1991, Vukovar endured a three-month siege. The battle became a turning point in Croatia’s fight for independence. [Source](https://vlada.gov.hr/heroic-battle-of-vukovar-inspiration-for-croatia-s-development-in-the-future/32970) — (voice only)
Source ↗

Keep in mind

Who pays for bear damage depends on the place. Where bears are hunted, the hunting-unit leaseholders pay. In national parks and areas with only occasional bears, the state budget pays.
Source ↗
Most bear damage claims are for crops and orchards. Livestock, crops and beehives cost farmers the most. One hotspot is near Risnjak National Park and the Slovenian border. The data are from 2004–2014, so they are old.
Source ↗

Where to go further

Open this study on bears and Croatian highways. Read the abstract first to see how fenced roads and bear crossings were studied. — (voice only)
Source ↗

Video: Balkanization | The Animated History of Croatia · Suibhne

Compare the top three ↓

The top three side by side

	Slovakia	Romania	Croatia
In the AIs' lists	5 / 5	5 / 5	5 / 5
Bears per 1,000 km² of forest	52–103 bears per 1,000 km²	150–184 bears per 1,000 km²	41–48 bears per 1,000 km²
Founded	1939	1330	1991
Headquarters	Schengen Area	Romania	Croatia
Put first by	—	—	—

Places with the same number of AIs are ordered by their average place in the AIs' own lists.

03Worth knowing

What the AIs noticed while building the list.

The number of bears does not predict conflict. Estonia has 0.1 compensated claims per bear, against 8.5 in Norway, and claims were lower where supplementary feeding and farmland were common.

Noticed by:

Included it: Claude, DeepSeek. Did not include: ChatGPT, Meta, Gemini.

01Final list

Slovakia

Romania

Croatia

Sweden

Finland

Russia

Slovenia

Estonia

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Japan (Hokkaido brown bears)

02More about the top three

1Slovakia

Did you know

2Romania

Did you know

3Croatia

Did you know

The top three side by side

More ratings

03Worth knowing

04Questions people ask

05How we counted

1The question

2Why this topic

3Where it applies

4What we looked at

5Who ranked

6How the places were set

06Each AI's own list

What Claude noticed

What ChatGPT noticed

What Meta noticed

What Gemini noticed

What DeepSeek noticed