Bears in Trentino, where and how many there are: the map

The story of the bear continues to cause discussion: after the latest attack in Trentino (at the time of writing the animal is still to be identified and the circumstances to be clarified), and with the hiking season just around the corner, public opinion is divided. There are those who are alarmed, and those who instead see no particular dangers other than the natural (and remote) risk deriving from the coexistence of man and animals, moreover in an area where man was, at the beginning of the XNUMXs, want to reintroduce the bear.

The Autonomous Province of Trento (led by the Northern League Maurizio Fugatti), meanwhile, already has issued an eviction order: to the experts, but not only, this decision seemed hasty to say the least. Although it cannot be ruled out that the bears in the valleys of Trentino are starting to be too many. Their growth rate has increased over the last four years: according to the latest data available, including cubs, we are approaching a hundred specimens, double those estimated in 2015 and ten times as many as in 2002. But where exactly do these bears live? ? How do they move? What habits do they have?

First one thing must be premised: as mentioned in an interview with FIRSTonline by Elena Guella, vice president of the Tridentine Mountaineering Society (SAT), the episodes of aggression by bears against men in the last 20 years can be counted on the fingers of one hand. To be precise, there are four, with no dead: “Nel 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2020. Excluding the last episode, of which the identity of the animal involved is not yet known, in the first three cases it was a question of females with puppies of the year in tow: Daniza and twice KJ2 and in the last two cases the people involved had a dog with them.”

Now let's see the bear map, based on the Large Carnivores Report 2019, edited by the Province of Trento.

How many

The latest available data of bears certainly present in Trentino is dated 2019 and is 63 specimens. However, the total number, including litters, is estimated at between 82 and 93. Most are female. In 2019, no dead bears were recorded, while 2003 have died since 34, in all the Alps, even outside Trentino (as we will see, bears move and do not live exclusively in Trentino). Of these 34, 15 died due to man (also counting the authorized killings). The survival rate of a bear is very high: in cubs it is around 90%, for young females it is close to 97%.

Where am I

Only 3 of the 66 bears detected in 2019 were detected outside the province of Trento and neighboring areas: two even ended up in Switzerland (one of which was also identified in Piedmont), another in Friuli Venezia Giulia. 6 other bears instead gravitated, as well as in Trentino, also in neighboring provinces/regions: 3 in Alto Adige, 2 in the province of Sondrio and one in the province of Brescia. As can be seen from the map, all the presences are concentrated in western Trentino, in the area of ​​the Brenta Dolomites (Madonna di Campiglio), Val di Sole, Val di Non, Valli Giudicarie, Trento and Monte Bondone. The only data relating to eastern Trentino refer to bear M49, the famous Papillon, who had ventured as far as Valsugana and Val di Fiemme, escaping capture for almost a year.

The female specimens are more territorial and it is they who occupy almost exclusively the aforementioned delimited area (1.500 sq km), with an increase in the presence, in that specific area, of 31% compared to 2018. Also considering the longer movements made by the young males the bear population of the central Alps was instead distributed in 2019 over a theoretical area of ​​45.327 sq km, from Piedmont to Friuli. From 2005 to 2019 38 bears have left Trentino, all males: some died or lost track of them, others simply emigrated, even ending up abroad (in Slovenia).

CHow they are identified

Bear monitoring has been carried out by the Autonomous Province of Trento on an ongoing basis since the 70s. The traditional field survey techniques have been joined over time by the radiotelemetry (methodology used for the first time in Eurasia in 1976), automatic video surveillance from remote stations, camera trapping and finally, starting in 2002, the genetic monitoring. Which is based on the collection of organic samples (hair, excrement, urine, saliva, tissues) which takes place in two ways, commonly defined as systematic monitoring, based on the use of traps with olfactory baits aimed at the "capture" of hair using barbed wire , and opportunistic, which is based on the collection of organic samples found in the area during ordinary service activities and in correspondence with the assessment of damages and the control of scratching posts.

How they live

From 2015 onwards, a detailed analysis was conducted to verify the temporal (rhythms of activity) and spatial (use of sites) distribution of the brown bear in Trentino, in relation to the human presence. It emerged that the bear modifies its rhythms of activity and its spatial distribution in order to avoid sources of anthropic disturbance, specifically the passage of pedestrians and motor vehicles (above all for recreational purposes) at the monitored sites and centers inhabited. The analysis of the rhythms of activity shows a time lag between humans and bears: where the human presence curve rises during the day, that of the animal decreases. Which therefore moves perfectly at ease only in the early hours of the morning and at sunset, practically disappearing completely in the central hours of the day. That's why it's really hard to meet him.

What to do if you meet

The risk is remote, but it is there. So it is good to remember the vademecum, assuming that the bear is totally uninterested in men, if anything it is annoyed by them and tends to avoid them. If he attacks, therefore, it is not to kill nor even less to eat, but only to defend himself perceives our presence as threatening, especially towards puppies, if it is a female specimen (as in all cases of aggression verified so far). In the event of an encounter and possible aggression, there are two fundamental cornerstones: not to react, not even to defend oneself, because in hand-to-hand combat we would succumb 100%, and not to run away, because the bear is much faster than us (it goes to speed of a scooter even uphill), climbs easily and can even swim.

Here are the behaviors to keep, depending on the distance of the meeting. If the bear is seen from far away, you can rest assured: it will never come to attack you. You can observe him, but avoid going in his direction and making movements that could make him feel in danger (running, waving). From a medium distance, the important thing is not to make sudden gestures, not to scream, not to run away in a panic: very calmly, whispering to the animal to reassure it and stepping back but never completely turning your back on it, you move away, going in the opposite direction. In the event that the bear approaches anyway, it is advisable to leave something on the ground, perhaps the backpack, to attract his attention and distract him a little, thus gaining time to put further distance between us and him.

Finally, the close encounter. Very rare, but not impossible. In that case the only thing to do is to appear totally helpless, lying down on the ground on your stomach, with your hands on your head. Without speaking and possibly without looking the bear in the eye. At that point the bear should no longer perceive you as a threat and will move away. It is not excluded that he still strikes a few blows, but not reacting remains the preferable choice in any case: running away or engaging in melee, even if in more people against one, will not bring anything better. However, solving the problem upstream is also possible. To reduce the chances of meeting practically to zero, these are the tips: follow the "official" paths and do not venture into woods and remote areas, do not go on excursions alone but at least in 2 or more people, walking in a "noisy" way, speaking loudly, so that even from a distance the bear can feel our presence and go about his business.