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“The bear can’t help it,” says Andreas Kieling. The 63-year-old was attacked and seriously injured by a bear during filming in the High Carpathians last week. The award-winning documentary filmmaker shows his injuries in pictures and videos on social media channels: In one photo he can be seen sitting on the ground covered in blood, in a video he describes the attack with a heavily bandaged arm.
“He scalped me”
It all happened very quickly, he didn’t see the bear coming. A few meters in front of him, the animal, weighing hundreds of kilos, suddenly jumped out of the bushes, straight at the cameraman. “It was extremely painful, he scalped me,” says Kieling. The bear also injured him badly on both arms, but “the surgeon did a great job of it.” He’s “okay” again.
Five attacks in 32 years
In any case, the wild animal is not to blame, Kieling defends the furry attacker. The bear acted purely instinctively, maybe he wanted to defend his cubs or his prey. Since he invaded the bear’s territory as a human, it was his own fault.
For more than three decades, Kieling has been filming nature in the most remote areas of the world. In his entire career, he has been attacked by wild animals five times. See the whole video here:
Since a bear attacked and killed a jogger in South Tyrol in early April, the animal has been in the headlines in this country. A good five weeks ago, a 26-year-old was found dead on a forest path in the Trentino municipality of Caldes in a valley (Val di Sole) popular with hikers and tourists. A female bear known by the code JJ4, which has already attracted attention several times, is said to have inflicted fatal injuries on the man.
What happens to the problem bear?
It is the sister of the “problem bear” Bruno, who was shot dead in Bavaria in 2006. After an attack in 2020, the bear should already have been killed, a court ruled against the killing. The bear has now been captured and is currently in an animal protection center in Casteller near Trento. Animal rights activists are demanding their release. A decision on the bear’s future is expected to be taken by the Administrative Court on May 25th.
Source: Nachrichten
