Italian environmentalists
and animal welfare organizations on Wednesday reported Italy to
the European Commission for failing to protect a rare brown bear
killed last month by a tranquilizer.
The complaint highlighted a "contradiction" between the
death of the 8-year-old female brown bear known as Daniza, and
the fact that Italy accepted some eight million euros from the
European Union to protect endangered species.
Daniza died on September 11 after an overdose of
anaesthetic administered during an operation to capture her in
the autonomous province of Trento in Italy's northern Dolomites
mountains.
Her death left her two small cubs orphaned.
Trento provincial authorities had ordered the bear to be
captured in August after she cuffed a mushroom picker who
allegedly came between her and her two young cubs, born this
year.
Daniele Maturi, 38, was admitted to hospital with cuts and
scratches to his arms and legs after being attacked in
mid-August while searching for mushrooms in the woods near
Pinzolo, about 100 km from Trento in northern Italy.
He said the bear seemed "crazy" but environmentalists say
Daniza was likely only trying to defend her cubs by frightening
the intruder.
Following the incident, forest rangers wrote to
the environment ministry and Trento authorities expressing
concern about plans to capture and isolate the bear without her
offspring.
Depriving the cubs of their mother would mean leaving them
unable to feed, find shelter, and protect themselves from
predators, the rangers said.
Environmentalists raised similar concerns.
"There is a total contradiction between Europe's program to
reintroduce the brown bear and the behavior of Trento
authorities, who took European funds but appear incapable of
maintaining their commitments, which are to protect the brown
bear and its habitat," environmentalists said.
"This is a clear case of waste of European taxpayer money,"
they said.
Through a program called Life Ursus, about 10 brown bears
were reintroduced in Trento, near Italy's borders with
Switzerland and Austria, about 20 years ago after being driven
out of the forested region.
The report was filed by Green Italia and the European Green
Party, the European Enforcement Network of Animal Welfare
Lawyers and Commissioners, and animal welfare groups LEAL, OIPA
and Associazione Animalisti.
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