BAILE TUSNAD, Romania — One night after work in Baile Tusnad, a run-down spa town in eastern Transylvania, a young couple sat in a dark-blue sedan, headlights on, gazes fixed on dumpsters on a cobblestone back street.

They were waiting for bears.

There is limited entertainment in this mountainous region of central Romania after the bars and restaurants close by 11 p.m. So the liveliest spots in town are near the dumpsters, where huge brown bears forage for food.

“This is the local attraction,” said Hunor Stekbauer, 26, a slender man with glasses and shirt sleeves rolled up to reveal a vintage calculator watch. He was sitting in the car one evening, one hand holding a cigarette out the window, eyes fixed on the trash bins.

His girlfriend and co-worker at an energy supplier, Henrietta Gergely, 20, was in the passenger seat. She said many local residents and others from towns nearby hung around at night hoping to spot a brown bear.