TO KILL OR NOT TO KILL: Debate over killer bear rages on as victim's family against putting it down
TRENTO, ITALY: A brown bear that mauled a trail runner to death in northern Italy has reportedly been captured by authorities. Officials said the bear, a 17-year-old female identified as JJ4, was lured into a tube trap after being baited by fresh fruit. The beast has since been sedated and taken to a holding facility before a final decision on her fate is made.
Twenty-six-year-old Andrea Papi was fatally attacked by the bear while he was out on a mountain training run on April 5. Forensic experts were able to identify JJ4 as the killer through her DNA. While officials in Trendo issued an order for the animal to be euthanized, animal rights groups appealed to an administrative court, which suspended the kill order.
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Outrage over Andre Papi's death
According to ITV, JJ4 is the same Alpine brown bear that injured a father and son duo back in 2020. Trento officials called for her to be put down then as well, but the ruling was overturned. Maurizio Fugatti, the Trento provincial president, expressed resentment and anger over Papi's death. He said it could have been avoided if the animal had been euthanized the first time it posed a danger to humans. Fugatti denounced the arguments by animal rights groups as "philosophical" and "ideological" after they repeatedly opposed selective euthanasia for bears known to be aggressive, like JJ4. In a press conference, Fugatti said the province would have preferred to have put her down on the spot and still hopes to do so pending a final court ruling.
To kill or not to kill
There have been ongoing debates over what needs to be done with Italy's growing Alpine brown bear population, which was once nearly extinct but has since bounced back thanks to a European Union-funded wildlife project. JJ4 was reportedly with her three cubs, who are two years old and self-sufficient, at the time of the attack, but were freed unharmed. The adult female bear is the sister of two other brown bears that have been put down in recent years due to their aggressive behavior. That said, Papi's family is against the bear being euthanized.
JJ4 was reportedly birthed by two bears brought to Italy from Slovenia about two decades ago as part of an EU-funded program to repopulate the brown bear population that had deteriorated to the point of near extinction.
The Life Ursus Project
The EU-backed Life Ursus project commenced in 1999 with the introduction of three male and six female bears into the Trento forests. While the original goal was to rebuild the population to 40-60 bears over a few decades, the program worked better than expected and the population has rebounded to more than 100 identified bears, who are increasingly encountering the human population, per Italian media outlets.
As the debate over JJ4's fate rages on, Fugatti is reportedly seeking to transfer some 60 “excess” bears from the Trento region and plans to convene a working group to discuss the next steps. On the other hand, a coalition of animal rights groups, including the International Organisation of Animal Protection, or OIPA, has demanded Trento officials “rigorously” respect the court suspension of the kill order and vowed to defend the bear and her cubs “via all available legal means.”