THEkilling of bears Jj4 and Mj5 was suspended by the Regional Court of Administrative Justice of Trento until 27 June. There was great anticipation for it judgment final which established the fate of the bears in Trentino (always unless further appeal to the Council of State). The judges were called to evaluate the documents received in the last few weeks, both those pushing for the killing of problematic bears, therefore by the President of the Province of Trento Maurizio Fugatti, and those produced by animal rights activists (Enpa, Leidaa and Oipa) in defense of plantigrades and aiming to be transferred to one of the two sanctuaries abroad, Romania and Jordan, which have ensured hospitality until the natural death of the animals. The opinions of Ispra and the Ministry of the Environment were also important.
"The life of the bears is saved for now," commented Lav. The possibilities of bringing animals to safety become more concrete and real. But what happens now? The Lav will deposit the in-depth analysis required to bring the animals to safety in a safe haven, fully bearing the costs, while the hearing on the merits has been set for December 14th.
Bears in Trentino: what happened?
The case of the bears had exploded with the death of Andrea Papi, 26-year-old runner fatally attacked bybear Jj4 in the woods of Caldes, in Val di Sole. Subsequently, the bear was captured and locked up in one of the bear pens in downtown Casteller. According to the Tar of Trento, its danger has not been fully ascertained. The boy's parents also said they were against the killing.
Instead, thebear Mj5 - still free - in early March he had injured a hiker in Val di Rabbi, a few kilometers from Mount Peller. MJ5 is an 18-year-old male specimen who in the past - before the attack - had never been the protagonist of violent episodes of this type.
In reality, it is well known that there is a bear management problem in Trentino-Alto-Adige for years. At the end of the nineties it was decided to reintroduce bears in the central Alps to preserve a small population of bears in the area. But in the last 25 years a larger population than expected has come from the original nucleus. Therefore, killing two bears will not solve the problem, rather it should improve the data management; and coexistence with the bear itself.
Why did the Tar suspend the killing of bears?
For the Tar of Trento the danger of the bear Jj4 nn has not been fully ascertained. The judges write in the sentence "The measure of killing follows the affirmation of the danger of the animal, but this affirmation finds no explanation in the disputed decree, nor in the two opinions of Ispra" given that "in the case in question no serious investigations were carried out in this regard”, explained the administrative judges asking to verify the dynamics of the attack by the Jj4 bear on Andrea Papi. "Although there is reason to believe that the attack on the young Andrea Papi depended on the presence of puppies following the she-bear (...) however, there is no trace of the investigations carried out by the Province in this regard, because no in court the required documentation (...) all the more necessary if one considers that even the party's consultant in his report, following the autopsy carried out on the young man's body, highlighted the need for further checks", concluded the judges suspending the sentence for killing bears in Trentino.
