Environment Minister Gilberto
Pichetto Fratin was critical and animal-rights groups expressed
outrage on Tuesday after the Province of Trento said that forest
rangers had executed overnight an order by Provincial President
Maurizio Fugatti to eliminate a bear considered dangerous.
The female animal, KJ1, was suspected of being involved in at
least seven interactions with humans, including an attack on
July 16 on a French tourist in which the victim suffered
injuries to his arms and legs.
The bear was killed in the woods in the Padaro area, where it
had been located via its radio collar.
The province said environmental agency Ispra had confirmed that
the animal was high risk and needed to the eliminated.
"'I have already told President Fugatti that the killing of
individual bears is not the solution to the problem," said
Pichetto Fratin.
"I understand the state of mind of the local administrators and
population, but today we are experiencing the effects of a past
mistake, due to an imprudent decision to exploit the image of
bears in Trentino for tourism 25 years ago.
Certainly a way forward is sterilisation and we are working on
it with Ispra.
"But this measure..
risks being insufficient".
Animal rights group Leal highlighted the plight of KJ1's "three
desperate cubs" saying that "the orphans could fall victim to
predators as they have not yet completed their path of
development and self-defence".
Bear numbers in Trentino have grown significantly following
their reintroduced to the area between 1996 and 2004.
A 26-year-old trail runner was killed by a bear he accidentally
ran into in Trentino last year.
The bear identified as being behind that fatal attack, JJ4, was
captured and the authorities ordered it be put down, but legal
action by animal rights groups prevented this and it is set to
be transferred to a reserve outside Italy.
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