The last Andean she-bear in Italy died, she couldn’t resist after the disappearance of her lifelong companion – time.news

2023-04-21 14:20:34

Of Alessandro Sala

Bahia and Luis have spent almost 30 years together at the Natura Viva park. And (almost) together they left. The species classified as vulnerable by the IUCN

He spent almost his entire life alongside his partner with whom he shared his days in the Parco Natura Viva di Bussolengo for over 29 years and with whom he also had two children. But four months after the death of her beloved Luis, she too passed away. Bahia it was the last specimen of Andean she-bear in Italy.

His species, which then that of Paddington, the traveler bear protagonist of books and films, now considered vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which draws up the red list of threatened animals. In captivity, in zoological parks around the world, 124 specimens survive. In the wild, according to the IUCN, the surviving specimens are between 2,500 and 10,000, but in recent years the Bear Specialist Group had detected a decreasing trend which estimated an overall loss of 30% of the population in the thirty-year period 2000-2030. Above all, its survival is endangered by the loss of natural habitats – concentrated in the mountainous areas of Central and South America – due to human activities: deforestation, intensive cropping (even illegal, for the production of drugs), pollution.

Now the decision of the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums is awaited, which could once again entrust the species to the Veronese park. Thanks to Bahia and Luis, he points out Cesare Avesani GarbageCEO of Parco Natura Viva, – we have been able to contribute over time to the protection of the species in the wild by supporting conservation projects in Ecuador through research, recovery, rehabilitation and the liberation of rehabilitated individuals.

Everyone remembers how close the couple was, as told by the image on this page which, said in human terms, sees them engaged in a passionate kiss. After the disappearance of her partner, she began to lose interest in outdoor activities and remained closed inside the shelter for a long time. The images in which the bear climbed with great effort on trunks and branches to reach various delicacies prepared by the keepers are famous – she recalls Caterina Spiezio, conservation manager of the Park —. While Luis, placidly seated on the right trajectory, waited for good parts of the booty to escape from her paws, falling to the ground. Luis has always been the strong one of the couple, except in front of his children: born in ’98 and 2007, Bal and Tunk have been the only field on which Bahia has never given ground. In that period she kept him away very firmly, always in defense of her children. He didn’t understand at first, but then he came to terms with it. Neither perhaps would have lived much longer without the other.

April 21, 2023 (change April 21, 2023 | 2:17 pm)

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