Bears regularly patronize Rovny's garden. Several times a year, they arrive in his small garden at the side of a hill and help themselves to plums, cherries or gooseberries. The greedy creatures also like cracking open beehives and helping themselves to honey.
And so far the bears have never reacted badly or injured anyone.
Hunters and ecologists disagree constantly on the number of bears in the country, with figures ranging from between 400 and 1,300. Whatever the exact figure, there is wide agreement on the fact that the bear community is currently overpopulated.
"After the first world war, the number of bears in Slovakia fell considerably. At the start of the 1930s there were only 20 bears, a number which rose in 1932 thanks to the protection of brown bears," Emil Rakyta, author of several books on hunting, told AFP.
"This continuing protection is the reason for the significant rise in the number of bears over the last seven decades. If one takes into account their breeding patterns, you get a current number of 800 to 900," he added.
Rakyta owns a small cottage at Kyslinky, a place more remote than Stare Hory and set at the foot of the Polana Mountains, which are home to around 10 bears.
"The bears very often stroll past my house," he says.
