Female bear that killed jogger gets stay of execution in Italy

A bear that killed a 26-year-old man while he was jogging in the woods close to a mountain village in northern Italy has been identified as a 17-year-old female that had previously attacked two people.

Andrea Papi, whose funeral was taking place on Wednesday, was the first person in Italy to be killed in a bear attack in modern times.

Prosecutors in the province of Trento identified the bear as JJ4, who had already been deemed dangerous after she attacked Fabio Misseroni and his son Christian close to a refuge hut on Monte Peller in June 2020

After that attack, the provincial governor, Maurizio Fugatti, issued an order for the animal to be captured and killed, but this was suspended by an administrative court after opposition from animal rights groups. The order was also challenged by Italy’s environment minister at the time, Sergio Costa.

It was agreed that the bear would instead be fitted with a radio collar. However, the battery for the device ran flat and so JJ4’s location was no longer traceable.

Misseroni and his son received serious wounds to the legs. On Wednesday, Misseroni told LaPresse news agency: “I don’t want to talk to anyone. I heard the news this morning and I feel really, really sick.”

Papi received injuries to his neck, arms and chest in the attack on 5 April near his village of Caldes. His family raised the alarm after he failed to return from his run. His body was found in a wooded area.

In a letter published by the Italian media on Tuesday, Papi’s mother, Franca Ghirardini, said her family “will fight to the end to get justice for my Andrea”. She wrote: “My soul and that of my family is devastated by immense pain, we can’t get over it. Knowing that Andrea was at the mercy of the bear devastates me.”

JJ4 was born in Trento after mating between two bears that had been brought to Italy from Slovenia in the early 2000s through Life Ursus, a project aimed at reversing the area’s dwindling brown bear population.

There are now about 100 bears in the Trento area, and close encounters with humans are becoming more frequent. A man was attacked by another bear, called MJ5, in the same province in March.

Fugatti has again issued an order for JJ4 to be captured and killed. Forest rangers will endeavour to capture the animal by enticing it with bait to walk into a “tube trap”, a device commonly used to capture bears.

In a statement last Friday, the Italian unit of WWF acknowledged that the bear would need to be put down once identified. WWF said seven people had been attacked by bears in Italy over the last 20 years and this was the first fatal attack.

Female bear that killed jogger gets stay of execution in Italy

An Italian court finally decided to sentence the she-bear to death for maltreating a runner which fatally ordered her execution to be suspended until May 11, officials in Trento say.

An ordinance signed by the tribunal of Trento was in response to a complaint filed by several wildlife protection agencies who petitioned the court to protect the 17-year-old bear named JJ4 by Italy's National Institute of Wild Fauna, but more commonly known as Gaia.

DNA samples found at the scene on a stick Andrea had used to defend himself and, on his clothes, and body had positively 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 dad and his son badly injured after they were forced to flee for their lives.

The incidents all took place on Mt Peller close to Caldes in the northern Italian region of Trentino where around 100 bears are believed to be living after being reintroduced there in 2000.

Posting a picture of a baby bear cub on its mother, LAV wrote on their Twitter feed: 'The order has been suspended by the regional tribunal which accepted our requests.

'The arrogance of the regional president Maurizio Fugatti has been beaten. Bears and the citizens of Trentino have the right to live in peace.' In a statement LAV said: 'It's evidently clear the desire of Mr Fugatti, he has no intention of working with us for a peaceful solution between bears and humans.

'What he wants is a vendetta towards bears, all he wants to do is kill them or move them out of the area.

'There is an alternative possibility for these animals, even for the one that he has ordered to be killed. These bears can all be saved.

'All the local authorities need to do is run a proper informative campaign for the local population and for holidaymakers so they know what to do if and when they see a bear.

Mr Fugatti said: 'In 2020 we authorised the killing of Jj4 after she attacked two people on Mt Peller.

'We have highlighted numerous times to various authorities that Jj4 is a dangerous bear but we have always been defeated and told that she is not dangerous and she should be free.

'But we cannot have dangerous animals circulating freely in our forests and countryside.'

Mr Fugatti said he would be calling for an urgent meeting between regional authorities and animal rights groups to 'urgently discuss' the situation.

In a statement issued by her lawyer Andrea's mother Franca, said: 'It's not my son's fault and not even the bear's - shooting the bear won't give me back Andrea.'

'The management of this project, over time, has become increasingly incautious and inadequate and has not taken into account and evaluated the growth in the number of bears and the population.

'We as a family, demand that somebody 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 order pending further evidence from both parties and adjourned the case until May 11.

The original 2020 was overturned after it emerged that Jj4 - also known as Gaia - had given birth to bear cubs.

Jj4 was born after two bears from Slovenia were brought to Italy through a project called Life Ursula, which aims at increasing the dwindling bear population.

Following the 2020 attack the Jj4 was fitted with an electric collar but the battery has since run out and officials have been unable to replace it.

A message on the website of the local council which oversaw the tracking said that 'due to a technical fault the current whereabouts of Jj4 were unknown'.