A bear is pictured next to her cubs at a bear observatory next to Tusnad tourist resort in central Romania, on October 19. Romania has Europe's highest number of brown bears which have always been a common sight in Cusma, but residents say that the bears never used to venture into farms to take animals. Photo: AFP

Do not poke the bear. A Polish TV channel learned the truth of the saying on Friday, being forced to abandon plans to hold its noisy New Year's Eve party near bear caves.

The TVP station wanted to relocate the party to Poland's most famous ski resort in the Tatra mountains.

But a local newspaper said hibernating bears could be disturbed by the noise.

Hundreds of protesters marched through Zakopane last week calling for TVP to relocate the event.

The station initially branded the protesters "pseudo-ecologists" and argued that sports events had been held in the area without a problem.

The station had originally said moving the event to the mountains would have provided protection from the wind.

But the Tatra National Park had warned that the noise and flashes made by fireworks and firecrackers would trigger anxiety in animals, as well as a search for new spots and in the long term a drop in the birth rate.

The statement added that a bear died last year after being woken up on New Year's Eve.

AFP