Rome [Italy], April 23:Italy is considering resettling bears abroad as it moves to reduce the bear population in the northern part of the country following a deadly attack on a jogger, the Italian Environment Ministry said on Saturday.
Environment Minister Gilberto PichettoFratin wants to "initiate the necessary talks at diplomatic level to enable the bears to be resettled," according to the ministry. Maurizio Fugatti, the provincial president of the affected region of Trentino, met with officials in Rome on Friday. During the meeting, a commission was tasked with reducing the number of bears around the province, including setting a maximum population size. The move comes after a bear known as JJ4 attacked and killed a 26-year-old jogger in early April in a valley popular with tourists and hikers near the village of Caldes. JJ4, also known as Gaia, was captured alive and is being held in a locked game enclosure.
The bear weighs about 150 kilogrammes and is the sister of Bruno, a bear who was shot in Bavaria, Germany in 2006. Fugatti initially ordered JJ4 to be shot, but following a complaint from animal rights activists, a court suspended the order. A court hearing on the fate of the 17-year-old bear is scheduled for May 11. The deadly attack sparked a heated debate about the approximately 100 bears inhabiting the mountainous Trentino region.(DPA)
Source: Qatar Tribune