Romania's parliament has approved the culling of 481 bears this year, up from 220 in 2023.
The country is home to Europe's largest brown bear population outside of Russia with 8,000 animals in the wild, according to the country's environment ministry.
It has annual quotas to control the size of the bear population, and to remove animals that have become accustomed to entering cities in search of food - so called "trash bin bears".
Last year, the number of emergency calls for bear sightings soared, more than doubling to 7,500, official figures reveal.
When a 19-year-old tourist was mauled to death while hiking on a popular trail in the Carpathian Mountains last week, there was a nationwide outcry in the European Union state.
Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu summoned politicians back from their summer recess to attend an emergency session of parliament.
As well as approving the cull, a moment's silence was observed to mark the hiker's death.
Over the past two decades, brown bears have killed 26 people and severely injured 274 others, Romania's environment ministry has said.
In 2021, a government decree gave town and city authorities the power to shoot bears that break into people's gardens and houses.
Animal rights activists denounced the cull, claiming that bear attacks are increasing because habitats are threatened by construction, logging and climate change.
Many bears are also attracted by rubbish dumps on the outskirts of cities and by food left by tourists, they say.
"The law solves absolutely nothing," World Wildlife Fund (WWF) biologist Calin Ardelean said, arguing that the focus should be shifted towards "prevention and intervention".
WWF Romania claims that culls will not remedy the problem unless measures are put in place to keep bears away from communities, such as better waste management, erecting electric fences and preventing people from feeding animals.
