An order to track down and destroy a deadly bear has been overturned after a successful legal appeal by an animal rights organization.
Officials had issued the decree for the brown bear, identified as Jj4 but also known as Gaia, after mauling trail runner Andrea Papi, 26, to death last week.
DNA samples found at the scene on a stick Andrea had used to defend himself and on his clothing and body had identified the 17-year-old female bear as the culprit.
It later emerged that the bear had also been involved in another attack in 2020 that left a father and his son badly injured after being forced to flee for their lives.
The incidents all took place on Mt Peller near Caldes in the northern Italian region of Trentino, where about 100 bears are said to live after being reintroduced there in 2000.
An order to ‘track and destroy’ a deadly bear identified as Jj4 has been overturned following a successful legal appeal by an animal rights group
DNA samples showed 17-year-old bear had bitten runner Andrea Papi to death on Mt Peller near Caldes last week
Region president Maurizio Fugatti had last week ordered the bear killed following the deadly attack — the first of its kind in Italy — on Andrea.
But the Italian Anti Vivisection League, (LAV), an animal rights campaign group, protested in a regional court through its lawyer Claudio Linzola and he won a one-month suspension.
LAV posted a photo of a baby bear cub on its mother and wrote on their Twitter feed, “The order has been suspended by the regional tribunal which has accepted our requests.
“The arrogance of regional president Maurizio Fugatti has been defeated. Bears and the citizens of Trentino have the right to live in peace.’
In a statement, LAV said: ‘It is clearly Mr Fugatti’s wish, he has no intention of working with us for a peaceful solution between bears and humans.
“What he wants is a vendetta against bears, all he wants is to kill them or get them out of the area.
“There is an alternative option for these animals, even the one he had killed. These bears can all be saved.
‘The municipality just needs to run a good information campaign for the local population and for holidaymakers, so that they know what to do if and when they see a bear.
“Don’t kill these bears, give them to the LAV.”
Mountain rescue teams using sniffer dogs found Andrea’s dismembered body the morning after the attack and he was pronounced dead at the scene
Region president Maurizio Fugatti had last week ordered the bear killed following the deadly attack — the first of its kind in Italy — on Andrea. But an animal rights organization has won an appeal for her stay of execution
Mr Fugatti said: ‘In 2020 we authorized the murder of Jj4 after she attacked two people on Mt Peller.
“We have pointed out to various authorities that Jj4 is a dangerous bear, but we have always been defeated and told she is not dangerous and should be free.
“But dangerous animals cannot roam freely in our forests and countryside.”
Mr Fugatti said he would call for an urgent meeting between regional authorities and animal rights groups to “discuss the situation urgently”.
In a statement from her lawyer, Andrea’s mother Franca said, “It’s not my son’s fault, nor even the bear’s fault – if I shoot the bear, I won’t get Andrea back.”
“The management of this project has become increasingly careless and inadequate over time and has failed to take into account and evaluate the growth of bear numbers and populations.
“We as a family demand that someone be held responsible for the lack of protection and prevention, they can’t get away with it.”
Judge Fulvio Rocco said he had suspended the warrant pending further evidence from both sides and postponed the case until May 11.
Judge Fulvio Rocco said he had suspended the warrant pending further evidence from both sides and postponed the case until May 11. Photo: Andrea Papi
The original year 2020 was destroyed after it was revealed that Jj4 – otherwise known as Gaia – had given birth to bear cubs.
Jj4 was born after two bears were brought to Italy from Slovenia through a project called Life Ursula, which aims to increase the dwindling bear population.
After the 2020 attack, the Jj4 was fitted with an electric collar, but the battery has since died and officials have been unable to replace it.
A notice on the website of the council overseeing the tracking said that ‘due to a technical glitch, Jj4’s current whereabouts were unknown’.