A survey trek through the Rhodope range’s dense Fraktos forest turned fatal this week when an agitated brown bear sent noted explorer Christos Stavrianidis plummeting 800 metres to his death.people.com
The 59-year-old outdoorsman had returned on Monday, 9 June, to chart a safer route to a 1950s-era war-plane wreck he discovered last summer. Fellow hiker Dimitris Kioroglou—accompanied by his dog—recalled the “blur of muscle and claws” that burst from the undergrowth. As the dog intercepted the animal, Kioroglou fired pepper spray, but the bear pivoted, collided with Stavrianidis at the clifftop, and vanished.cbsnews.com
Kioroglou climbed a tree, phoned rescuers and guided them to the crevasse. Airlift teams hauled Stavrianidis out at first light on Tuesday; doctors at Kavala General could only certify his death.cbsnews.com
Wildlife-protection group Arcturos stressed that the incident fits a defensive pattern, not predatory aggression. “The bear perceived a threat and sought distance in the quickest way it knew,” spokesman Panos Stefanou told state broadcaster ERT.hindustantimes.com
Ecologists estimate 450–500 brown bears roam Greece—most in the Rhodope and Pindos ranges—making human encounters rare but rising as eco-tourism spreads. Officials urge trekkers to carry deterrent spray, keep dogs leashed, and avoid running when startled.people.com
Stavrianidis’s unfinished mission—opening the Cold-War relic to history buffs—now lies with local mountaineers, who plan to mark a safer path and install warning signage about the region’s protected wildlife.cbsnews.com
