Brown bear Ursus arctos - Dabas aizsardzības pārvalde

6. att. Sites where bears were observed most often after 2000 (mainly the data of the State Forest Service).
When assessing bear distribution data, it should be taken into account that bears cover long distances
in spring after hibernation in order to find food as well as during the mating season when looking for a
partner. Such a high mobility caused by the low population density or lack of food can give a wrong
impression of the increase in the bear numbers and distribution (Vaisfeld, Chestin 1993). Even though
bear distribution in Latvia in the last 20 years can be regarded as stable, it is unclear how their distribution
is related to the number of individuals, i.e., whether the number of resident bears in Latvia has remained
stable. The most important bear areas where bears are most often observed are Aizkraukle, Alūksne,
Balvi, Gulbene, Jēkabpils, Limbaži, Ludza, Madona, Ogre, Rīga, Valka and Valmiera districts (Fig. 6).
According to the State Forest Service data, bear number in Latvia fluctuates around 3-15 (at the moment
no more than 12) (Fig. 7). It is still unknown whether bear dispersal westwards is related to the increase in
the bear density within the country or whether bears observed in the central and western part of Latvia are
immigrants from the neighbouring countries that have crossed eastern Latvia on the way.
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