In March, one such individual, Emanuel von und zu Liechtenstein, an Austrian prince, claimed Arthur’s scalp, paying a reported 7,000 euros for the privilege.
According to Agent Green, a Romanian NGO which campaigns to preserve the country’s natural environment, Prince Liechtenstein took part in a hunting trip that was ostensibly arranged to find and kill a female bear believed to be responsible for damage caused to farms in the village of Ojdula, in Covasna county in central Romania.
Despite the ban on hunting bears, exceptions are occasionally granted for the sake of controlling the bear population, and to deal with bears that are perceived to pose a threat to human life.