Male "M91"

Mushroom picker attack: bear identified

The bear that attacked a mushroom picker in the Trentino village of Cavedago last Sunday has now been identified - it is a male and has been given the code M91.

The predator attacked a man from behind on Saturday afternoon in the woods of Bleggio Superiore in Trentino, northern Italy, when the 33-year-old was alone looking for mushrooms. The bear knocked him to the ground, hit him several times with its paws and injured him on his back and arms before running off again, leaving the man to run back to the nearest village in search of help. Genetic traces on the man's clothing were able to identify the bear.

Last April, the bear ran after a man in the woods of the village of Molveno, the province of Trento announced on Friday. Now M91 is to be captured. It is not ruled out that the province of Trento will issue a kill order, as provided for by bear management in Trentino.

Bear "Gaida" killed jogger
In April 2023, jogger Andrea Papi was attacked and killed in the woods of Caldes in Trentino's Val di Sole valley by the female bear Gaida, known as "JJ4". The animal was captured and taken to an enclosure near Trento. The bear was actually supposed to move to a high-security enclosure in the Black Forest this year. However, the animal's arrival at the Alternative Wolf and Bear Park in the Black Forest has been postponed until spring 2025. This is partly due to weather-related delays in the construction of the enclosure, a spokesperson explained last week.

Since the return of the bear to Trentino with the "Life Ursus" project, there have also been other attacks on humans. Trentino recently approved a draft law aimed at curbing the bear population. The bill provides for the possibility of killing up to eight animals per year. According to the latest estimates, there are more than 100 bears in the area. Animal rights activists have repeatedly called for people to be made more aware of wild animals or for wildlife corridors to be set up. The Italian Environment Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin had campaigned for a sterilization campaign for the bears.

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