Polish brown bear crosses borders, highways in search of mate; returns home

A Polish brown bear went a wooing, little knowing that scientists were following all the way. Starting from the Tatra Mountains, the bear crossed borders and a highway as it covered some 380 kilometers (235 miles).

Nuria Selva, a researcher with the Polish Academy of Sciences, said Friday she found it fascinating that the 5-year-old bear, collared last year and named Iwo, cleverly avoided danger.

Walking through Slovakia to Hungary, he avoided villages and apparently crossed fields at night to avoid people. He crossed a highway in Slovakia and swam across the Ondava River.

He turned back in Hungary, where no bears live, and returned to Poland’s Bieszczady region, a bear habitat. To a happy ending? Selva says it will be difficult to confirm whether Iwo found his mate.