Should we euthanize the bear who killed a young jogger in Italy?

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Local authorities announced Tuesday the capture by forest rangers of the bear “JJ4” which killed a jogger at the very beginning of April in northern Italy. They want to euthanize him but animal rights organizations want to protect him.

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The authorities of the Italian region of Trento want to put down three bears considered dangerous, including the bear "DD4". Illustrative photo. (FLORIAN LAUNETTE & MÉGANE CHÊNE / MAXPPP)

What to do with the “JJ4” bear? This is the question that is debated in Italy. The animal killed a young jogger in the mountainous area of ​​the autonomous province of Trento, northeast Italy, on April 5. A death that shocked Italian public opinion. After two weeks of tracking, the animal was captured by forest rangers on Tuesday April 18, and its fate is now being debated.

The debate is lively between those who want to kill the bear and the animal rights organizations who want to protect it. “JJ4” has been put to sleep and transported to a specialized shelter for the time being. The local authorities want to euthanize him, but the administrative court of Trento has temporarily opposed it. “We can’t make a prison for bears”, said Tuesday during a press conference Raffaele De Col, head of local civil protection. He estimates that “the solution lies in the neutralization of problematic individuals”.

A campaign to cull and relocate bears

The president of the autonomous province of Trento, Maurizio Fugatti, has reaffirmed his desire to reduce the number of bears present in his region. The authorities want to move 70 individuals, without specifying their destination, and kill three individuals considered dangerous, including “JJ4”. Maurizio Fugatti estimates that the number of bears on the territory, estimated at up to 120, is much higher than the objectives of the project to reintroduce the species “Life Ursus”, launched in 1994.

The local authorities and the Ministry of the Environment plan to set up a technical committee to draw up this travel plan. “You can’t move a wild animal born in a given territory like that”recently told AFP Antonio Nicoletti, head of protected areas and biodiversity at the environmental defense association Legambiente. “Those who have to heart the project [Life Ursus] should not dwell on the fate of JJ4 and should rather help us to transfer the other individuals. If we don’t act, the project is doomed”believes for his part Maurizio Fugatti.


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