A grizzly bear attacked and killed a runner on a forested trail in northwest Italy, the first of its kind, a source familiar with the matter said, reports RTE.
The source said Andrea Papi, 26, was killed Wednesday while jogging in a mountainous area near his village of Caldes, in Trentino.
When he didn’t return, his family raised the alarm and a search party found his body in the middle of the night.
He had deep lacerations to his neck, arms and chest and an autopsy performed today concluded he was attacked by a bear, the source confirmed to Italian news, reports RTE.
Already in March a man was attacked by a bear in the same area, triggering a debate on the dangers posed by animals, which resumed between 1996 and 2004.
Maurizio Fugatti, president of the Trentino region, told reporters that once the identification was made, the local authority decided to track down the animal and kill it.
Environmental group WWF had already acknowledged that it needed to be put down.
But Annamaria Prokachi, a former ecological deputy who now collaborates with the ENPA, an animal rights association, denounced the lack of precautions taken by the local authorities.
She reasoned that bears generally keep their distance from people.
She said the local authority had to ensure people were kept away from areas where the bears nursed their cubs, reports RTE.
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