The case was bought after beekeeper Zoran Kiseloski reported the bear for stealing his honey. The court in Bitola, Macedonia found in favour of Kiseloski after he explained the extreme lengths he had gone to in order to protect his honey from the animal.

Kiseloski told the court he had tried to protect his hives by playing music and shining brights lights on his beehives as he had heard that would scare off the bear. He bought a generator, lit up the area and played the songs of Serbian “turbo folk” star Ceca at top volume.

A sting in the tale

The ploy worked for a couple of weeks but, when the generator ran out of power and the music fell silent, the bear returned and attacked Kiseloski’s beehives again.

After hearing the case, the court found the bear guilty. Since it had no owner and belonged to a protected species, the state was forced to pay the 140,000 denars (approximately £1,750) for the damage it had caused. The bear, who was excused from attending court, has since vanished.