Inter-specific relationships within protected areas of Romania-Case study: the cohabitation between Homo sapiens sapiens and Ursus arctos arctos in Harghita Mountains

The official assessments of the European Commission tell that Carpathian brown bear is a vulnerable species. The man-bear relationship must take into account three aspects of the bears’ behavior: feeding, protection and aggressivity. The aim of the study is to analyze the typology of the relation between Ursus arctos arctos and Homo sapiens sapiens within the protected areas in the Harghita County (the Eastern Carpathians). The research methodology was the following: surveying the literature dealing with brown bear’s ecology and ethology; undertaking field research; running questionnaires; monitoring the online environment. The results show that the shrinkage of the brown bear’s habitat is directly proportional with forest shrinkage. The typology of the man-bear relationships includes commensalism, food competition and individual intolerance.