A rare bear found dead in a
northern forest may have been poisoned and suffered a "sad,
horrible death," an Italian animal protection group said Friday.
Packaging, including a piece of string, found in the
stomach of the animal known as 'M6' suggests it ingested packed
bait contaminated with poison, said a statement from the
National Animal Protection Agency (ENPA).
The bear was found dead in Val di Non in the autonomous
province of Trento, a part of the Trentino-Alto Adige region in
Italy's Dolomite mountains.
There, government forestry and environmental agencies have
been working to reintroduce a bear population that had been
driven to near extinction.
European authorities have also been working to cultivate
brown bear populations.
"The sad, horrible death of M6, which seems to be caused by
ingestion of poisoned baits, is a very serious matter for which
it is necessary to ascertain (who has) responsibility with
extreme urgency," the ENPA said.
It complained that although wild animals are protected by
law, they continue "to be killed with impunity".
Many Italians were outraged last fall, and a complaint
filed at the European Commission, over the death of a rare brown
bear known as Daniza.
She was killed by a tranquilizer containing an overdose of
anaesthetic administered during an operation to capture her in
Trento after she cuffed a mushroom picker who allegedly become
between her and her cubs.
Her death left her two small cubs orphaned.
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.
Provincial officials in Trento announced in 2013 that after
decades of decline in the bear population, it began to recover
with 40 bear counted, the number of females bruins slightly
outnumbering males.
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