A beekeeper in Macedonia grew frustrated with a bear's repeated attacks on his beehives.  So, as any sane person would, he sued.  The bear, tried in absentia, was found guilty.  Somehow, that hardly seems fair.

A bear who could not keep its paws out of a beekeeper's hives has been convicted of theft and criminal damage by a court in Macedonia.

But the honey-stealing bear was nowhere to be seen as the court in Bitola handed down its judgement.

I admit that I’m a sucker for silly stories about over-reliance on lawyers and judges.  The humour of this particular news items ends here, however.  What happened next is not the least bit funny.

The court found the bear guilty and, since it had no owner and belonged to a protected species, ordered the state to pay the 140,000 denars (£1,724) damage it caused to the hives.

Why do the taxpayers have to cough up because a beekeeper can’t protect his assets against a wild animal?  If I were a Macedonian citizen, I’d be seriously annoyed.

Previous related post: “Psycho” bear killed in traffic