A grieving father whose son was killed by a bear has called for tougher measures as a culling row intensifies in Italy following three sightings in built-up areas in a week.
Carlo Papi’s 26-year-old son, Andrea, was mauled to death by a bear last year while jogging on a rural trail in an area where grizzly bears can roam freely.
He was attacked by a 17-year-old female brown bear identified as JJ4 who had also been involved in another attack in 2020 and was initially supposed to have been euthanized following the death, but this was called off.
There are strict laws preventing bears from being killed as they are a protected species, but now after new sightings, including one just meters from a nursery, there have been calls to tighten controls.
Mr. Papi said: “They have abandoned us, they said they would solve this problem and nothing has been done.” My son died a year ago and nothing has changed.
Footage shows a bear sighting in the village of Male, in the Sole Valley, near Trento, northeastern Italy, early Sunday morning.
Carlo Papi’s 26-year-old son, Andrea, was mauled to death by a bear last year while jogging on a rural trail in an area where grizzly bears can roam freely.
Andrea was attacked by a 17-year-old female brown bear identified as JJ4 who had also been involved in another attack in 2020.
‘We have now reached the point where we are no longer safe in the woods near our homes, nor in our own homes.
‘Three sightings in less than a week and one a few meters from a children’s school. What are we waiting for? Apparently, bears are now more protected than humans.
“I think the time has come to get rid of them, I’m not saying kill them all, but it is necessary to remove them from the area and put them in a zoo or safari park.”
Around 100 bears are believed to be in the Trentino region of northern Italy after they were reintroduced in the late 1990s, but officials estimate the number may be even higher.
Local councilor Claudio Cia shared images of the latest sightings with MailOnline. One showed a captured bear walking through the village of Male in the Sole Valley, near Trento, northeastern Italy, early Sunday morning.
He was spotted just as an end-of-year school party was ending and people were returning home after Italy’s Euro 2024 match against Albania.
Filmed from the safety of a car, it shows the bear poking its snout through the open doors and then breaking into a run before disappearing down a side street.
The animal gets caught in drivers’ headlights and then looks towards them before slowly driving away down the road.
Twenty-four hours later, another bear, believed to be the same one, is seen on a highway outside the city, its head poking over a guardrail.
The animal was caught in the headlights of motorists and then looked towards them before slowly moving away along the road, towards the town of Commezzadura.
Local authorities are now calling for urgent intervention “to prevent painful and dramatic events from occurring in the future”, in apparent reference to the death of Andrea Papi.
Although bear attacks are relatively rare, authorities said after Papi’s death – the first death in several years – that they are on the rise.
Councilor Cia said: “We know from a bear census that there are officially around 100, but we believe the number is much higher, possibly at least half.”
“These sightings have become almost daily and the bears are becoming more bold, residents are becoming more concerned for their safety and it is also dangerous for the animal.
‘The one that was sighted early Sunday was seen just after finishing a party, there were still stalls set up and people on the streets but fortunately no one was attacked.
“The problem is outside their natural habitat, bears are deadly, outsiders consider them cute and cuddly, with soft fur, but for us they are predators and we have to deal with them.”
Cia added: “When they were introduced as part of a recovery plan 25 years ago, everyone was happy, but now the locals have had enough, they are fed up.”
‘Bears attack sheep, goats and other animals, affecting farmers’ livelihoods.
‘They are increasingly wandering around urban areas in search of food because they have nothing to eat in their natural habitat.
‘What we are asking for is a human sacrifice every year of a select few, but every time we ask for it there is an uproar and it is always people who live in the cities.
‘They see bears as sweet and cuddly creatures, like a cartoon character, but the reality is very different.
The forested area cordoned off near the municipality of Caldes after the death of Andrea Papi
‘What also makes me angry is that when we cull deer, and we do about 7,000 a year, there is never any protest, but when we mention bears it’s the end of the world.
“We have elevated bears to the same level as humans and turned humans into monsters just because we want to defend ourselves and control the bear population.”
Michela Vittoria Brambilla, president of the Italian League for the Defense of Animals and the Environment, said: “People like Councilor Cia need to learn that they have to live with bears.
‘The bear is a protected species and should not be harmed, it seems to me that for Councilor Cia the only good bear is a dead bear.
“Bears are not like deer, bears are a species facing extinction, so comparing the possible cull of bears to that of deer is ridiculous, you need to understand the difference.”
Meanwhile, the group Cien Per Cent Animalistas organized a protest in Verona, declaring that “the summer offensive has begun in defense of bears and wolves threatened with extermination.”