A bear killed a 26-year-old who was doing a hiking route in northeastern Italy, local authorities reported this Friday. The fact, which was unusual because it was the first such death in the countryoccurred last Wednesday and moved the neighbors, who requested that the mammal be sacrificed.
Andrea Papi, 26 years old, was practicing jogging during the morning in a wooded and mountainous area near the town of Caldes in the region of Trentino, South Tyrol. In the middle of his walk, he came across the animal, which mortally wounded him.
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“The traces of the encounter with the bear start from the town of Crocifisso, below Pra del Conz, at an altitude of 1,200 meters. Andrea ran along the forest path, but suddenly it took two curves, due to the escarpment. The traces of blood and scrambled weeds continue for 150 meters, in an impassable area due to the crowding of branches, up to the trunk where we found it”, specified Fabio Anegli, head of Malè Forestry, one of the Italian towns in the province of Trento.
In the absence of the young man, His family became concerned and reported him missing., in addition to requesting help from lifeguards to find it. The rescue team was made up of more than a hundred collaborators, among whom were firefighters, police officers, forest rangers and the Red Cross, who were equipped with drones and search dogs. The dogs sniffed out Andrea’s trail and led rescuers to her lifeless body.
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Andrea’s body was found in a ravine and partially covered by dry branches during the early hours of Thursday. The body showed deep wounds on the neck, arms and stomachsome of which indicated that they had been caused by a carnivorous animal.
From the autopsy, investigators determined that “the victim was alive at the time of the surprise attack”. In addition, they specified that the young man “defended himself with his hiking sticks.” They also announced that they will carry out DNA analysis to identify the type of bear that killed Andrea.
Neighbors and specialists ask to sacrifice the bear
As a result of the episode, neighbors and specialists requested identify the bear that attacked Andrea in order to sacrifice it, a decision that generated controversy because it is a highly protected species. Even the Minister of the Environment, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, and the Deputy Prime Minister, Matteo Salvini, were notified of this measure. “Animal health and people’s safety are now a problem that must be managed decisively,” Angeli remarked.
Annamaria Procacci, from the National Association for the Protection of Animals (Enpa), denounced the absence of a preventive policy for this type of animals. “Man is not prey for the bear. On the contrary, the bear is a particularly fearful animal that stays away” from humans, he explained to AFP. In addition, the environmentalist lamented the lack of efforts to “discourage access to areas where there are bears with cubs.”
For its part, the environmental NGO World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) considered that the bear must be euthanized. “Removing this specimen reduces the risks of other similar incidents and improves the acceptance of the species by the population,” said that organization.
However, Alessia Gregori, the victim’s girlfriend, He was against euthanizing the animal. “We live in the woods. You walk out the door of the house and you’re in the woods. Nobody looks for anything, nobody is stupid. The bear did what his instincts told him and the fault is certainly not attributable to the animal. You (referring to to those who ask to sacrifice the bear) are the animals that delight in other people’s pain,” the woman wrote on Facebook.
Thanks to the project “Life Ursus” bears were reintroduced in the autonomous province of Trento between 1996 and 2004. In 2021, 69 bears were recorded in that territory. It is estimated that there are currently between 120 and 200 bears in Italy, mainly in Trentino and Abruzzo (southeast) In March, a man was attacked by this animal not far from where the athlete lost his life, which opened a debate about the danger of plantigrades. Andrea’s case is the first fatal incident of its kind that has been registered in the European country.
MB / ED
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