share Print Romania has the most brown bears in the European Union. But just how many bears it has depends on whom you ask, whether environmentalists, the government -- or the companies that make millions from trophy hunting. In 2016, Romania banned the trophy hunting of large carnivores, such as bears and wolves. But under successive governments, exceptions have been granted for the sake of controlling the population. Under these guidelines, almost 1,400 bears have been killed by hunters to date, who are said to be willing to pay $15,000 for a trophy. The official number of brown bears in Romania is over 6,000. But the government is not actually sure of the number, and environmental groups argue that it might be as low as 2,000. Hunting associations say the number could be as high as 10,000.