A brown bear that has attacked people in the past has again attacked a young man jogging in a village in the northern Italian Alps. The young man lost his life and Italian authorities are on the hunt for the ‘killer bear’.
According to BBC Broadcasting and DPA News on the 12th (local time), Andrea Papi (26) was found dead in Trentino Caldes, Italy on the 6th. Authorities found Papi’s body near a forest road after a family report that she had gone out for a jog and hadn’t returned.
Papi’s body had deep scars from being torn or bitten all over the face and abdomen. As a result of DNA analysis taken from the victim’s wounds, the attacking bear was identified as ‘JJ4’, a 17-year-old female brown bear under the management of the Italian government.
‘JJ4’ had a criminal record of attacking a father and son at the same time in this area in June 2020. At the time, state authorities tried to kill JJ4, but the court stopped them. Residents of the area are terrified when it turns out that the same bear attacked a person again.
This is because the area where Papi was attacked by a bear is popular with residents and tourists, and because the wild bear population is rapidly increasing recently, there is a high risk of similar accidents.
Italy released three bears in the Trentino region in the early 2000s, but the population has recently increased to 100 thanks to steady conservation efforts. However, contrary to the expectations of the authorities, these brown bears do not expand their habitat throughout the Alps and rarely leave the Trentino region.
Residents of the region believe that the bear population has reached a critical level and are arguing that changes are needed in Europe’s brown bear protection plan, ‘Bring Life to Brown Bears’.
In front of the village church where Papi’s funeral was held on the 12th, Mayor Antonio Maini Caldes said, “The village is outraged. our young man died It’s memorial time, but he’s very upset that he died in a bear attack. It shouldn’t have happened,” he said in anger.
Italian authorities are tracking ‘JJ4’, and if it is captured this time, it is a policy to euthanize it. Trentino Governor Maurizo Fugatti said: “We are doing our best to track down the bear and put the residents at ease.”
On the other hand, the International Organization for Animal Protection (OIPA), an animal protection organization, said, “A responsible administration should act according to the rules for protecting animal diversity, and should not act with a desire to retaliate or take revenge.” He expressed concern that it could be in vain.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.