Image: VOLKER Weihbold
This was reported by South Tyrolean media on Wednesday. The bear’s behavior was surprising, and such a case had not previously been reported, said the director of the country’s forestry department on the Internet platform “stol.it”.
Foresters secured bear DNA from the car. This will now be analyzed “and then we’ll see if we’ve already found traces of this bear somewhere,” explains director Günther Unterthiner. In addition to the scratch marks, bearskin hairs were also found on the front bumper. The state said that three bears are currently on the move in South Tyrol, one each in Ulten, Barbiano and Eppan. It is quite possible that the bear made a detour to Völs in Barbiano. It was announced last week that these bears are not problem animals and therefore do not pose an increased risk to the population.
“Now something must finally happen”
Why a bear was aiming for a car remained open for the time being. It was assumed, for example, that the sweetish smell of the coolant could have been what the predator was looking for under the metal shell. The car is older, so liquid could have leaked, according to the hypothesis of the forestry department to “Rai Südtirol.”
The mayor of Völs saw the incident as a political challenge: “Now something must finally happen. The legal requirements must be created to get the problem under control. Our country is not a suitable habitat for bears. Who makes them Laws? That’s politics, not environmental groups.” The opposition South Tyrolean Liberals also took the incident as an opportunity to demand a “clear law on the removal” of bears and wolves.
Source: Nachrichten
