An Italian bear that grabbed the European media spotlight last week by straying into 'hostile' German territory has been sighted alive and well in Austria. The brown bear disappeared after Bavarian authorities gave a green light for the animal to be killed, saying it was a threat because it seemed to have developed a taste for fresh meat.
The bear, dubbed 'Bruno' by the media, has allegedly disembowelled seven Bavarian sheep and broken into a henhouse or two, raising alarm among farmers north of the Austrian border. The 'kill' order provoked anger and horror in Italy, which dispatched a team of experts to "save the bear", preferably by getting it back onto Italian territory. But then the animal dropped out of sight and after a few days there were reports it had been killed.
But on Sunday night WWF operatives in Austria spotted Bruno in the southern Zillertal valley, not far from the Italian border. "This is great news," said Italian WWF chief Fulco Pratesi amid general rejoicing.
Environment Minister Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio also voiced satisfaction but said the battle was only half won because now authorities in the semi-autonomous Austrian region of Tyrol had to be persuaded to spare the animal. He said that officials in Bavaria had decided to resolve the bear problem with an "environmental" approach after talks with Italian counterparts.
"We hope that we'll soon get some similarly comforting signals from the Tyrol," he said.
The bear is believed to come from the Adamello-Brenta park in northern Italy. The park imported ten bears from Slovenia a few years ago in order to boost the Italian bear population. The roving Bruno, who experts badly want to identify with DNA testing, is thought to be the offspring of one of the imported Slovenian animals.
To get into Germany it wandered about 80 km from its home, passing through Austria and into the Oberammagau area of Bavaria. German experts were initially excited, announcing that it was the first wild bear seen in the country for about 170
years. After its jaunt into Germany, the bear seems to have decided by itself that returning to Italy is the best option.
It only needs to amble another 20 km and it will be back on friendly soil.
