When you purchase through links on our site , we may gain an affiliate commission . Here ’s how it works .
Italian authorities are adjudicate what to do with a chocolate-brown bear that mauled a jogger to destruction in the northeastern province of Trento . The case has shone a lightness on the country ’s successful — but problematic — rewilding programme .
On the eventide of April 5 , 26 - year - old Andrea Papi was ramble on on a woodland path near the village of Caldes . When he failed to return home , his family reported him missing . His mauled body was find at 3 a.m. the abide by morning .
A brown bear killed a jogger in Italy in the first fatal attack in the country’s recorded history.
On April 8 , provincial president Maurizio Fugatti , issued an orderliness to pour down the Alpine bear , but a court suspended that order following an charm from fauna right field mathematical group the Anti - Vivisection League ( LAV),ANSA news agencyreported . The bear , a female fuck as “ JJ4 , ” was catch on April 17 accompanied by three cubs .
This is the second clock time JJ4 has had a killing edict overturned , having previouslyattacked a father and sonin 2020 , Reuters report . The victims of the 2020 brush outlast .
Claudio Groff coordinates the large carnivores sphere within the provincial government ’s wildlife department . He told Live Science that Papi ’s dying is even heavy to have because of what happened in 2020 . " We adjudicate to withdraw this serious bear , " Groff say . " We did n’t deal it , unfortunately , because of the decision of the court . "
The brown bear JJ4 being captured by the Trentino Forest Service.
Papi ’s demise mark the first fatal bear attack in Italy , concord to the Italian daily newspaperCorriere della Sera . However , bear - relate incidents like this fuel a long - operate debate about the presence of bears in the region .
How many bears are there in the Trentino-Alto Adige?
Brown bears ( Ursus arctos ) were on the threshold of extinction in the Alps in 1999 , with only a smattering surviving in the Trentino - Alto Adige region of Italy . The European Union - fundedLife Ursus projectbrought bears from Slovenia to the region as part of conservation efforts to establish a minimum practicable population of around 40 to 60 individuals . Today , there are around 100 bear in Trentino - Alto Adige .
Related:‘Prehistoric ' mummify bear discovered in Siberian permafrost is n’t what we opine
" Italy is a swell success story , " saidLana Ciarniello , an independent researcher in Canada and conscientious objector - chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature ’s ( IUCN)Human - Bear Conflicts Expert Team , of which Groff is also a member . " The bear were reintroduced , and they ’ve done very well . "
A brown bear, one of around 100 in Trentino, walking in the snow.
The bear plan has work so well that the creature have made a singular convalescence — but now the part is adapting to once again becoming , as Ciarniello puts it , " bear country . "
What causes bear attacks?
Tom Smith , a professor at Brigham Young University in Utah whose research focalise on human - bear conflicts , told Live Science that the most common cause of chocolate-brown bear attacks is people unintentionally surprising them . Smith has canvass more than 2,000 bear attacks in North America . He tell all bears , regardless of whether they have cub , can set on if approached .
" Anytime you purposely or unintentionally run into a bear , you ’re going to loose a natural inherent aptitude in them , which is to fight themselves , " Smith said .
The Trento provincial government published a leaflet onclose encounters with bears . For North America , check out the U.S. National Park Service’sstaying dependable around bearsguide .
bear typically forfend human race and run away if they learn people descend . Smith noted that sealed human behaviors increase the chances of attack , including trying to get tightlipped to bear , run them , leaving food around , mountain biking , walking alone or deliver a dog off the triplet — bears do n’t like dogs . However , harmonise to Smith , solo runners are at keen risk .
" That ’s the worst affair you could do , " Smith said . " offset are unmarried , they move tight , they do n’t make noise ; it ’s the consummate storm of bad variable quantity . "
What has gone wrong in Italy, and what’s the solution?
Groff say there are hundred of signaling telling people how to comport , including where the black attack happened , " but it ’s not enough . "
He claims there are two things that would serve that are out of his hands . The first is for people to carry bear spray — an effective bear impediment in North America that is currently illegal in Italy . Ciarniello and Smith also advocated for the use of bear spray .
The second is to be able to " shoot dangerous bears as soon as potential , " Groff said . " There are very few , " Groff added . " But we have to be flying to take away them , and as we can see , we are not . "
colligate : fair sex vote out in unusual grizzly bear tone-beginning
The decision to increase the number of bear in Italy was controversial , with fears from local community that bears menace stock and hoi polloi . The revival meeting of the bear population also brought about the resurgence of poaching , according to a 2015 clause in the journalArcadia .
With the multitude endure alongside bear being forced to make concessions , Ciarniello said that removing a bear perceived as a scourge can avail them palpate more dependable , helping to relieve human - bear battle .
" If it continues to nurture positive attitudes for the [ bear ] universe as a whole , then that individual should be off , whether that single needs to be hit or not , " Ciarniello said .
— In ' extremely rarefied ' attack , pivotal bear killed female parent and tike in Alaska . Now we screw why .
— American black bear are evolving to have cinnamon - colored coats , sketch finds
— Family of 5 bear found hibernating under Lake Tahoe home base
A spokesperson for WWF Italy told Live Science in an e-mail that the province can do more to promote coexistence . " Unfortunately these have not yet been sweep up by the Province of Trento , " the spokesperson said .
WWF Italy recommended more preventative legal action to fend off bears attain accession to human nutrient and farm animal , increased bear Department of Education and awareness , the utilisation of bear atomiser for tramper and residents , and measure to tolerate the population to expand .
" The brown bear universe in the Italian Alps has not been capable to enlarge into other territories due to terrible habitat fragmentation , " the representative said . " It is important to interpose by restoring habitat and providing wildlife corridors to allow the universe to flourish into other suitable areas outside western Trentino . "
Are there too many bears in Italy?
Italy ’s surround rector , Gilberto Pichetto Fratin , told Italy ’s Mediaset goggle box that he has set up a committee to come up to the potential excess number of bear in the neighborhood , ANSA tidings agencyreported . If there are deemed to be too many , some could be withdraw .
Ciarniello noted that on every landscape painting , there ’s an ecologic carrying mental ability — how many individual of a species an surroundings can indorse — and a societal carrying capacity — how many of those animals a human universe will support .
She said Italy now needs to decide when the social carrying capacity for bear will be attain and how to oversee it — for example , by removing bear or hunting .
What will happen to the bear that killed the jogger?
At the time of writing , it is unknown what will chance to JJ4 . She is being held at the Casteller wildlife nerve centre near Trento . A final court ruling on her future is expected on May 11 . JJ4 ’s cubs were mature enough to survive independently and set aside to go gratis , according to astatementreleased by the Trento provincial regime .
