Three wild bears were killed in Greece in two days, a couple of the country's leading wildlife groups said Monday, including a young female rewilded just weeks ago.
The Arcturos and Kallisto organizations said two of the bears had been found with gunshot wounds.
The third -- named Circe when she was rescued and nurtured for a year by Arcturos -- apparently ate poisoned bait.
They were found dead on Friday and Saturday.
All three incidents occurred in the Western Macedonia region, an area where local farmers have repeatedly complained of damage to their crops and incursions by the animals into inhabited areas.
Arcturos said Circe -- who was rewilded in late May after being found in a coma last August at the age of seven months -- had been left unburied for three days.
"Three dead bears in two days are not 'unfortunate incidents," AFP quoted the group as saying in a statement.
"They are the most tragic proof that the problem remains without any meaningful response, and that the operational readiness of the competent (state) agencies continues to show serious shortcomings," it said.
"A poisoned animal that remains in the field can be a secondary source of poisoning for other wild or domestic animals," Arcturos said.
Greece is home to over 700 wild brown bears, up from fewer than 500 a decade ago, the organizations said. It remains a protected species.
