Following the death of jogger Andrea Papi in the Alps, one of the bears, a female named JJ4 who was 17 years old, was apprehended.Weeks previously, the other, identified as MJ5, attacked a hiker in the same region.
The slaughter decision “appears disproportionate and inconsistent with supranational and national rules,” according to Italy’s Council of State.
The 26-year-old Mr. Papi was the nation’s first known bear fatality in many years. He was attacked while jogging on the mountainside of Mount Peller above the town of Caldes.A 39-year-old hiker was attacked by MJ5, a male bear, in March. JJ4 was brought to an animal care facility close to Trento, while MJ5 is still free to wander the Brenta Dolomites mountain range today.
However, both bears were given a slaughter order, and animal welfare organizations took up their cause, claiming that the bears were an Italian protected species.
In order to allow for the submission of additional evidence and the opportunity for animal rights organizations to find an alternative to slaughter, the local administrative court delayed the order until December.
The environment minister of Italy declared his opposition to the slaughter, and the government announced last week that officials in Romania were prepared to accept JJ4 into the world’s largest sanctuary for rescued brown bears, with a population of more than 100 bears.
The establishment of a reserve in the Trentino region is yet another solution suggested by animal rights organizations.
The Rome Council of State’s judges concluded on Friday that the slaughter decision appeared unfair. According to them, the 1979 Bern Convention on Wildlife guaranteed protection for brown bears and stipulated that “the measure of culling represents a last resort” under international standards.
They stated that exceptions to the prohibition on killing protected animals could only be made “if there is no other workable solution.”
A European conservation initiative known as “Life Ursus” returned brown bears to northern Italy in 1999, but their population has since risen above 100.
The governor of Trentino stated that there are currently about 70 “excess bears” in the region and charged ideological activists of being concerned about JJ4’s future.
Local mayors vowed to step down if action was not taken to reduce the population after the recent attacks raised worry in their communities.
According to the animal welfare organizations that filed the appeal with Rome, Friday’s decision “gives confidence and hope to those fighting for a reprieve for the animals condemned to death by the autonomous province of Trento.”
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