A young runner was killed by a bear on Wednesday on a hiking trail in northeastern Italy, a first for the country, local authorities announced Friday.
Andrea Papi, 26, was running through a wooded and mountainous area near her town of Caldes, in the Trentino region, when she came across the plantigrade.
Alerted by his family, worried that they would not see him return, rescuers found his body on the night of Wednesday through Thursday in a ravine, with deep wounds to his neck, arms and stomach, some of which were clearly caused by a large carnivore.
“An Urgent Operation to Take Down the Bear”
According to the results of the autopsy carried out on Friday, Andrea Papi succumbed to injuries inflicted by a bear, a source close to the investigation said, confirming information from Italian media. DNA analysis should allow the animal to be identified in the coming days.
The local authorities confirmed the circumstances of the accident in the afternoon and “decided to start an urgent operation to kill the bear” as soon as it is identified, announced the president of the Autonomous Province of Trentino, Maurizio Fugatti, during a press conference. .
In March, a man had already been attacked by a bear not far from there, reviving the debate about the potential danger of plantigrades, which are numerous in the region.
69 bears registered in 2021
Thanks to the success of the “Life Ursus” project to reintroduce bears in the autonomous province of Trentino between 1996 and 2004, 69 specimens were registered in the territory in 2021.
In reality there are “a hundred when the project only provided for 50”, thundered Maurizio Fugatti, “a number too large to ensure the coexistence” of the bears with the inhabitants. “Therefore, it is convenient to reduce this figure as soon as possible to what was initially planned,” he added.
Annamaria Procacci, from the National Association for the Protection of Animals (Enpa), for her part denounces the absence of preventive actions by the authorities.
“Man is not the object of predation by the bear, which, on the contrary, is an animal that is particularly fearsome and remote” from man, recalled the former environmental deputy, who deplored the fact that no effort is made to “discourage access to areas where mothers and pups meet.
Social acceptance
Although it also opposed the systematic killing of bears involved in non-fatal attacks on walkers, the environmental NGO WWF considered that the bear responsible for the runner’s death must be put to safety.
“The withdrawal of this individual reduces the risk of new similar incidents and improves the population’s social acceptance of hope,” the NGO argued in a press release.
There are between 120 and 200 bears in Italy, mainly in Trentino and Abruzzo (center) and this is the first recorded fatal accident.
Source: BFM TV
