A feminine bear accused of fatally mauling a jogger in northern Italy is harmless, animal rights activists advised AFP on Thursday, saying enamel marks on the sufferer proved the aggressor was male.Â
The 17-year-old bear, recognized as JJ4, is being held in a high-security enclosure whereas a courtroom within the Trentino province, decides whether or not or not she must be destroyed.
“JJ4 is harmless,” animal welfare affiliation Leal mentioned.
Province of Trentino
The brown bear is accused of killing Andrea Papi whereas he was working on a woodland path within the mountainous area close to his village on April 5. The 26-year-old sustained accidents to his neck and head.
Papi’s household had mentioned they did not need the bear culled.
Trentino’s president, Maurizio Fugatti, mentioned traces of JJ4 had been discovered on the scene and he ordered her seize, vowing to destroy her.
Trento provincial authorities ordered her euthanized, however animal rights teams appealed to an administrative courtroom, which suspended the order.
Officers in Trento introduced final month that the feminine bear had been captured in a single day in a tube lure, baited by contemporary fruit.
“The removing of Jj4 now ensures better peace of thoughts and safety within the space,” officers mentioned in a assertion together with a photograph of the bear’s seize.
Jj4 is identical Alpine brown bear that injured a father and son out strolling within the area in 2020. Then too, Trento provincial authorities ordered her killed however a courtroom blocked the transfer.
The bear was separated from her three two-year-old cubs, however activists have issued a authorized attraction in opposition to the kill order.
Amongst paperwork being examined by the courtroom, which is about to rule on Could 24, is a forensic report submitted by the area and drawn up by pathologist Mattia Barbareschi, who was current on the post-mortem.
He discovered chew marks “characterised by a distance between them of about 8cm to eight.5cm, which is the standard distance between the canines of an grownup bear”.
Leal mentioned it has offered the courtroom with one other forensic report, executed by two veterinary specialists who studied Barbareschi’s findings, which declare the gap between the canines was “typical of an grownup male”, not a feminine.
“We now have requested the courtroom to order a specialised veterinary physician to look at the specimen, to measure her enamel,” Leal’s lawyer Aurora Loprete mentioned.
The affiliation additionally mentioned discovering traces of JJ4’s DNA on the scene weren’t proof she was the killer, questioning if the gathering course of had been executed correctly.
Leal mentioned the post-mortem additionally confirmed it was “a protracted try by the bear to distance and dissuade the sufferer”, quite than “a deliberate or predatory assault”.
Papi’s loss of life launched a debate on the hazards posed by bears, which had been reintroduced to the area between 1996 and 2004.
There are round 100 of them now in Trentino, in response to the province.
Arterra/Common Photos Group by way of Getty Photos
Fugatti had ordered JJ4 to be put down in 2020, after two hikers had been attacked, however that order was overturned by a courtroom.
JJ4 was fitted with a radio collar as a substitute so she could possibly be tracked, however the battery on the machine ran flat and was not changed.
Animal rights teams insist bears usually preserve their distance from folks and it’s as much as native authorities to make sure that individuals are evaded zones the place feminine bears are elevating their cubs.
In 2020, a brown bear was caught on digital camera climbing onto a balcony of an condo constructing within the northern Italian metropolis of Calliano.
