Only two days after lawmakers from Bulgaria's ruling party were reported to be preparing amendments to the Hunting and Game Conservation Act because of a bear attack that left a woman in critical condition - another bear had decided to take a stroll down a village square.

The Bulgarian brown bear casually went for a walk down the streets of Hassovitsa, a village just outside the southeastern town of Smolyan, looking for food, Bulgarian news agency Focus reported on July 23 2010.

Residents were bewildered when the animal descended in the village late in the evening on July 22 and went to the village square, apparently drawn by the smell of the waste bins, according to eyewitness reports quoted by Focus.

According to eyewitness Iliyana Nikolova, the bear proceeded to raid the bins looking for something to eat. She described meeting with the bear as "horrible" and one that she would "never forget".

She then cried for help but by the time two men came to her assistance, the bear had slipped into the woods and disappeared.

Meanwhile, Bulgarian legislators are pushing for an amendment that would give the authority to issue special hunting permits to the Agriculture Ministry, rather than the Environment ministry, after another attack by a brown bear in southeastern Bulgaria left a woman in critical condition.

The Environment Ministry authorised police and park rangers to hunt down and kill the bear involved in the attack. Additionally, eight other bears reported to be near rural settlements in the area, which could be dangerous to locals, are to be caught and relocated.