The Romanian authorities are ready to
authorise the transfer of Jj4, a 17-year-old female bear that
killed a man in the northern province of Trento earlier this
year from an animal centre in Trento to the Liberty Bear
Sanctuary in Zarnesti, the environment ministry said in a
statement on Thursday.
The positive response from Romania comes in the context of
efforts "to verify the availability of foreign facilities more
suitable to host the brown bear specimen in order to avoid its
slaughter," the statement read.
Jj4 has been held at the Casteller sanctuary in Trento since mid
April after it attacked and killed 26-year-old trail runner
Andrea Papi on Mount Peller near the Alpine town of Caldes on
April 5.
Papi was the first Italian to be killed by a bear in modern
times, although animal rights groups have disputed evidence that
the bear was to blame.
The provincial authorities immediately ordered for the bear to
be captured and put down, triggering a court battle and dividing
public opinion.
Environment Minister Gilberto Pichetto has said he is against
the bear being culled and tasked ministerial experts to find
alternative solutions, as well establishing a task force
"engaged in the definition of a strategic plan" for the broader
"management of bears and all wild animals".
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