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Greeks Fear Tomb-Raiding Bears
AFP
May 12, 2003 — The inhabitants of a Greek village are living in fear after a posse of hungry brown bears vandalized their local graveyard, local press reports said on Friday.
A group of the bears ransacked the cemetery in the remote village of Makrino Zagoriou, damaging the gravestones of deceased locals and drinking oil from the lamps adorning their tombs.
"This is the second time in two months that the bears have come to our village," said local councilor Stiris Spyradakis. "This time nothing was left undisturbed."
Now the villagers fear that the bears, emboldened by their recent adventures, could turn their attention to the living.
The brown bear, or Ursus arctos, only rarely attacks humans, with fruit, berries and roots accounting for around 75 percent of its diet.
It is the other 25 percent the locals are increasingly worried about, according to Spyradakis.
"Now the residents fear for their lives," he said.
Spyradakis criticized measures to protect brown bears taken by local conservation group Arktouros, which has insisted on modifications to a planned motorway crossing the region close to Greece's northwestern border with Albania, home to the southernmost population of the species in Europe.
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Name: Brown Bear, aka Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos)
Primary Classification: Ursidae (Bears)
Location: North America, Europe and Asia.
Habitat: Large areas of open wilderness, including tundra, mountain forest and alpine meadow.
Diet: A variety of seasonal vegetation, including grasses, roots and berries. Also fungi, insects, fish and other mammals.
Size: Up to 9.2 ft in length and 1,720 lbs in weight.
Description: Thick coat of fur; usually dark brown but can vary from blonde to black. Large, muscular shoulder hump. Concave profile. Powerful limbs. Long claws, non-retractable front claws.
Cool Facts: They have the widest distribution of all bear species and vary greatly in size and appearance across their range. Vies with the polar bear for being the world's largest predator.
Conservation Status: Not listed by the IUCN.
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