The 33-year-old was alone looking for mushrooms when he was suddenly attacked from behind. The bear tackled him to the ground, hit him several times with its paws, and injured his back and arms before moving away.
The man ran back to the nearest village where he asked for help. Genetic traces on the man’s clothing are intended to identify the predator. The bear should be killed, as required by bear management in Trentino.
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The attack occurred at a time of year when bears begin to go into hibernation, although these animals are now being spotted in winter due to climate change and mild temperatures. Bleggio Superiore is a town between Riva del Garda and Tione and is located in an area where a high bear presence has long been reported.
Not far from Bleggio Superiore, in Dro, a French tourist was attacked by a bear while jogging in the forest in July. A few days later, the animal was identified thanks to DNA traces. It was the bear “KJ1”, which has since been killed.
- Also read: The cubs of the problem bear who was shot in Trentino are still alive
In April 2023, the jogger Andrea Papi was attacked and killed in the forests of Caldes in Trentino’s Val di Sole valley by the bear Gaia, who goes by the name “JJ4”. The animal was captured and taken to an enclosure near Trento. The bear was actually supposed to move to a high-security enclosure in the Black Forest this year. But the animal’s arrival at the Alternative Wolf and Bear Park in the Black Forest has been postponed until spring 2025. This is due, among other things, to weather-related delays in the construction of the enclosure, a spokesman said this week.
- Read about this: “Problem bear” Gaia is moving from Italy to Germany in 2025
Since the bear’s return to Trentino with the “Life Ursus” project, there have also been other attacks on humans. Trentino recently approved a draft law intended to curb the bear population. The draft provides for the possibility of killing up to eight animals per year. Recent estimates put the number of bears in the area at more than 100. Animal rights activists repeatedly call for people to be made aware of wild animals or to set up wildlife corridors. The Italian Environment Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin had advocated a sterilization campaign for the bears.
Source: Nachrichten
