Population Control??

I joined the server for the first time yesterday and noticed a large amount of bears but didn't have any issues with them until after I got a base built. 
They are a lot slower now than they used to be so avoiding them is easy when you're a fresh spawn/new player.
Personally, being a PVE server, the numbers should be as they are, to give that difficulty level. But saying that, you do want to have fun and if you're being eaten alive every 5 minutes, I can see how that could dampen the fun factor a tad.

Personally I like it the way it is, but others may now.

I remembered when I fresh spawned this wipe. Found a bow and arrows right away in a crate, and killed up to 4+ predatory animals with it. Though at times minor inconveniences, sometimes major when you get spawn camped, I feel its all part of the Rust experience. A very, very good source of food as well.