Several hundred Slovenian peasants protested in the town of Velika Lašče, south of Ljubljana, against the government's policy towards wild animals, which they said were causing them great harm.
They announced that they will gather every Saturday throughout Slovenia if the government does not take action against, the villagers claim, an excessive number of bears and wolves, Hina reported.
In addition, they demand the resignation of the Minister for the Environment, Simon Zajec, because they consider him responsible for their problem.
"The policy towards wild animals has led to a catastrophic situation in the last twenty years. Previously, food production had priority over protected wild animals, and hunters were rewarded for shooting, but today it is different," said the president of the Slovenian Farmers' Union (SKS), Anton Medved , organizer of the protest.
He added that the state would have to ensure an increased killing of bears and wolves, which cause damage to livestock farmers and frighten the population.
One of the ten requests to the government is the payment of special subsidies to farmers in the area where wolves and bears live in the name of "reduced quality of life".
On one of the posters today it was written "Let Minister Zajec step down, and if not, then let (Prime Minister) Šarec go".
In the last few weeks, there have been a series of wolf attacks on sheep and goats.
The farmers' union has been warning about the problem of the expansion of bear habitat for a long time. According to some estimates, about 1.200 brown bears live in Slovenia.
The rally was supported by the right-wing opposition whose representatives came to the rally. Former Prime Minister Janez Janša, leader of the opposition Slovenian Democratic Party, supports the demands of the peasants.
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