Bear slaughter horror: Mother bear who charmed tourists as she wandered through Italian town with her cubs is found shot dead hours later, sparking outcry
A bear filmed a few days ago in cute scenes walking with her two cubs through an Italian town has been shot dead – sparking a furious reaction.
The well-known and tagged bear, named Amarena, was caught on camera earlier this week by dozens of tourists as she strolled through the center of a village.
Amarena was the first to be spotted, and seconds later—to the sound of bystanders cooing—her two cubs suddenly appeared and followed her down the road.
The Ursine family then trotted down a flight of stairs and into the woods near San Benedetto dei Marsi in Italy’s central Abruzzo region, which is home to dozens of brown bears.
A man – who has not yet been identified – was questioned by police after the bear’s lifeless body was found just hours later in the garden of a house on the outskirts of the village.
The well-known and tagged bear, named Amarena, was caught on camera earlier this week by dozens of tourists as she strolled through the center of a village in Italy. Seconds later – to the sound of bystanders cooing – her two cubs suddenly appeared and followed her down the road
A man – who has not yet been identified – was questioned by police after the bear’s lifeless body was found hours later in the garden of a house on the outskirts of the village
He told officers, “I shot because I was scared, but I didn’t want to kill the bear. It was on my turf, it was an instinctive act, an impulse.’
Meanwhile, the woman who captured the scene and posted it on Facebook, Gemma Di Pietro, said: “I was the first to see Amarena in town recently, it must have been around 10.15pm.
“I called the local carabinieri station and said I saw the bear and her two cubs in the middle. You could tell she was scared and wanted to cross the road in safety.
“A few minutes later I heard the owners of a house honk their car horns and flash their headlights so that the bear didn’t go near a coop behind their yard.
“Then I saw the bear run away and the first thing I heard was that he had been shot. You could tell she was scared, and I just don’t understand this act.”
The woman who captured the scene and posted it on Facebook, Gemma Di Pietro, said: ‘I was the first to see Amarena in town recently, it must have been around 10.15pm’. In the photo: the mother bear surrounded by tourists and accompanied by her cubs
President Marco Marsilio of the Abruzzo region said: ‘This is a very serious event, against the whole community, and it fills us with anger and pain because it is an incomprehensible gesture.
“Over the years, the community, both inside and outside the region’s parks, has learned how to live with and alongside the bears and not interfere in their behavior.
‘A bear in Abruzzo has never posed a threat to humans, even if they have invaded built-up areas in the past.
“This act of aggression has no justification whatsoever. We rely on the investigation launched by the police, who have already identified the person responsible and will now appear in court.”
Officials said a task force of 100 forestry workers was now searching the nearby regional park using drones to locate the two missing cubs.
Amarena was one of about sixty Marsican brown bears in the region. An adult can reach a weight of up to 210 kg and a length of 180 cm, while female bears are smaller.
Earlier this year, in another incident in the northern Italian region of Trento, a bear was captured after it attacked and killed a jogger.
A court initially ruled that the bear should be put down, but that has now been reversed.
After being spotted, the Ursine family trotted down a flight of stairs and into the woods near San Benedetto dei Marsi in Italy’s central Abruzzo region, which is home to dozens of brown bears.
Elsewhere in Italy, police have launched an investigation after video footage was posted online of a group of youths kicking a goat to death at a holiday farm in Anagni, near Rome.
If found guilty of animal cruelty, they face up to 18 months in prison and a fine of up to £15,413.
In a statement on its Facebook page, the National Park of Abruzzo wrote, alongside a graphic photo of the dead bear: “The park vet intervened on the spot with the emergency response team, which, however, was only able to determine the death of the bear given the seriousness of the injury. The injury.
The man was identified by Park personnel and taken away by the Carabinieri of the local station, who intervened after their call.
“The dynamics of the incident are ongoing and will continue as park staff identify the two bear cubs to evaluate what to do.
“The episode is a very serious incident that wreaks havoc on the sixty or so residents, involving one of the most prolific women in the Park’s history.
“There is obviously no reason to justify the incident, since Amarena, despite causing damage to agricultural and zootechnical activities, always and in any case compensated by the Park, has never caused any problem to humans.”