"Border guards patrolling the state border, found that on several poles, about half a meter high, the braces holding the barrier were torn off. While inspecting the scene, the border guards found signs that a bear was the culprit," the border guards said.
Judging by the photographs taken by the Latvian guards, the bear wanted to cross into Russia.
Latvia, which first proclaimed its independence a century ago in 1918 and was re-established following the collapse of the Soviet Union, is usually more worried about human beings leaving its borders. Its population has shrunk from over 2.65 million in 1989 to less than two million last year, a figure not seen since the early 1950's.
