One rural resident, Katrin Karro, who lives in Vaida, about 20km out of Tallinn, told AK about a recent encounter which required calling in the services of a hunting dog to ward off a bear family who spent a lot of time near the village thoroughfare.

"We came by bike from home, cycling to the village center when we heard some rustling in the woods. I told the child that I guessed it would be a fox we were about to see.

"Then I looked, and saw a small, dark bundle, which I realized it was a little bear cub. I looked up, and saw a sizable mother bear nearby, so went straight to the neighbor's and asked if they could escort us home with their dog," she told AK.

Hunter August Kuuse said his dog had driven off a bear and her cubs deeper into the forest: "Only last night. The dog had been barking for about quarter of an hour. Bears are constantly trying to raid the beehives. You can set your watch by it; at four o'clock in the morning if you go out, and the dogs are barking, it means a bear is around there somewhere."

The Environment Agency says that the number of bears will have risen by the end of this year to nearly a thousand, from 800 last year.

The rise in numbers means they have been getting more and more visible to rural dwellers such as those in Vaida.

In South Estonia, some bears are also crossing the border into Latvia, the board said.

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