Environment Minister Gilberto
Pichetto said Wednesday that a bear that killed a man in the
northern region of Trento this month should be put down after
being captured this week.
The female animal, JJ4, killed 26-year-old trail runner Andrea
Papi on Mt Peller on April 5, making him the first Italian to be
killed by a bear in modern times.
He is thought to have run into her on a trail and she may have
reacted because she perceived a threat to her three cubs.
Trento Provincial President Maurizo Fugatti of the right-wing
League party issued an order for JJ4 to be eliminated but this
was suspended by a court pending an appeal by animal-rights
groups.
"I have set up a committee, not so much for JJ4, but for the
more general issue of an possible excess number (of bears),"
Pichetto told Mediaset television.
"When it comes to JJ4 there is judiciary and, for me, the
operative arm of the environment ministry, ISPRA (the national
institute of environmental protection and research).
"So the evaluation of the minister is based on that of ISPRA
which, in talks with the Trento provincial government, came out
in favour of putting it down".
JJ4 was caught on Monday night using a tube trap and was
transferred to the Casteller wildlife centre pending a final
verdict on whether it is to be put down. Animal rights activists
have camped out outside the centre with banners calling for the
animal to be spared.
Fugatti's order for JJ4 to be put down was suspended by a local
administrative court on Friday.
It was the second time the court overturned an order for JJ4 to
be put down. The first ruling dates to 2020, after the bear
attacked and injured two hikers, a father and son, also on Mount
Peller.
The bear population in Trentino has boomed to around 120
exemplars after the start of a campaign to stop them dying out
at the turn of the millennium.
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