The bear that killed a runner in the Italian Alps is spared from death for now in court – Winnipeg Free Press

ROME (AP) — A ruling by an administrative court in Italy’s Alpine region on Friday saved, for now, the life of the bear that fatally attacked a jogger last month.

The brown bear, identified as Jj4, was captured on April 18 after an intensive two-week hunt started after a 26-year-old local man died while running down a mountain trail.

The Trento city court requested more details about the dynamics of the 17-year-old bear’s attack and therefore stayed an order from local authorities to euthanize the animal. The suspension lasts until June 27. But the bear’s fate may not even be decided at that point, as a hearing has been set for December 14 to decide the merits of animal rights advocates’ proposals to move the bear to a shelter. , where it is not clear. where the animal would not be a danger to humans.

Italy’s ANSA news agency also said the court concluded that more details of the runner’s autopsy were needed before making a decision on the bear’s fate.

Animal rights groups have defied an order issued by authorities in Trento province to kill the bear.

It was unclear if Jj4 could have attacked Andrea Papi, who was on a training run, because the puppies were nearby. His family has said they are opposed to killing the bear.

The provincial president has argued that Papi’s death could have been prevented if the bear had been euthanized after it attacked two people, injuring them, in 2020.

Jj4’s parents were brought to Italy from Slovenia two decades ago as part of a project, funded by the European Union, to increase the brown bear population, which was then feared to be dwindling to near extinction. The bear population thrived, and the animals increasingly encountered people.