IntraBear

Project title: Intraspecific interactions shaping human-brown bear conflicts in the Romanian Carpathians

Project number: PN-IV-P2-2.1-TE-2023-0999

Contract number: 47 TE /2025

Funding body: Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding (UEFISCDI)

Budget: 499 998 RON

Period: 2025-2026

Research team:

Ioan Mihai Pop – Principal investigator

Anna Steluta Manolache – Post-doctoral researcher

Teodora Sin – Post-doctoral researcher

Lavinia Pindaru – PhD student

Aim

To advance the fundamental understanding of intraspecific interactions in an intact European brown bear population in the Romanian Carpathians and to evaluate if and how they influence the human-brown bear interactions.

Objectives

O1. Evaluate spatial and intraspecific interactions between brown bear sex and age groups, such as despotic behavior of dominant males, in a natural landscape using camera trap data.

O2. Assessing the main brown bears’ sex and age groups involved in frequent interactions with people in natural and human-dominated landscapes.

 O3. Evaluate the spatial and interspecific interactions between humans and bears in natural landscapes in the Eastern Carpathians using occupancy models.

 O4. Develop scientific capacity of young researchers to approach the complex field of population dynamics, to innovate in the use of occupancy models, and to further contribute to increase the visibility of Romanian research.

Conferences

  1. Cristian I. Iojă, Steluța Manolache, Simona Grădinaru, Viorel D. Popescu, Mihai I. Pop. Examining Wildlife-Related Emergency Call Data in Top 10 Romanian Cities. The 4th SURE World Conference, Istanbul, Türkiye, July 16–19, 2025.
    https://sureworld.congress.gen.tr/files/kongre/166/editor/abstract_book.pdf
  2. Mihai I. Pop, Agnes Keresztesi, Steluța Manolache, Robert E. Szep. Nemesis of Coexistence: Politics, and the Perpetual Dilemma of Brown Bear Management in Romania, International Mountain Conference 2025, Innsbruck, Austria 14th-18th September 2025. Presentation ID 3.12222, https://imc2025.info/imc25/sessions-n-workshops/focus-session/fs-3-173-competiting-visions-of-socio-ecological-transformations-in-mountain-territories-analyzing-the-role-of-conflicts/
  3. Steluța Manolache, Teodora Sin, Lavinia Pândaru, Marian Mirea, Mihai Pop. A Structured Taxonomy and Decision-Making Framework for Human-Bear Interactions in Romania. 4th Tusnad Eco Bear Conference. Tusnad Băi, România. 21st-24th Octomber 2025, https://tusnadecobear.ro/IV_TusnadEcoBearConf_Abstract_Book.pdf
  4. Mihai I. Pop, Steluța Manolache, Robert Szép, Viorel Popescu. The Illusion of Optimum: Why Habitat Scores Are Unreliable for Brown Bear Management Decisions? 4th Tusnad Eco Bear Conference. Tusnad Băi, România. 21st-24th October 2025. https://tusnadecobear.ro/IV_TusnadEcoBearConf_Abstract_Book.pdf
  5. Pop I. Mihai, Manolache Steluța, Sin Teodora, Chiriac Silviu, Szep Robert Eugen, Iojă Cristian Ioan. Alerte privind fauna sălbatică în orașele din România: informații 112, tipologia riscurilor și un cadru decizional pentru interacțiunile dintre oameni și animale sălbatice. A-XV-a Ediție Zilele Academice Ieșene. Biodiversitatea în Spațul urban. Iași, România 30 Octombrie 2025. https://acadiasi.org/biodiversitatea-in-spatiul-urban-2/

Articles

Mihai I. Pop, Ariane Zangger, George Iordăchescu, Steluța Manolache, Agnes Keresztesi, Cristian I. Iojă. (in review) Invisible barriers to managing urban human–wildlife interactions: a review of perceptions, narratives, and institutional conflicts. People and Nature

Reports