Tourist attacked in Trentino, Fugatti: “The MJ5 bear will be captured and shot down”. Animal rights activists: “Victim of electoral maneuvers”

The bear that attacked the brother of the mayor of Rabbi, in Trentino, on Sunday 5 March has a name. It is a specimen already classified in the databases of the Autonomous Province of Trento, explained the president Maurizio Fugatti, called MJ5, an 18-year-old male born in 2005 from Maja and Joze, Slovenian bears who started the Life Ursus project on Alps in the 1990s.

The bear has been present in Trentino for many years and has traveled a lot, said Fugatti: “From 2006 to 2022 he frequented all of western Trentino and moved a lot, he was also in the Province of Bolzano. the most popular area is that of the Brenta southern”. The Province of Trento will proceed with the capture and then killing of the animal, which is considered “problematic”, even if “it must be said that it is a bear that has never given these problems before. But now compared to the traveled by the Pacobace, which governs the actions implemented by the Pat authorities. Here we are dealing with a foreseen case, with a bear that had physical contact and not a false attack. In this case, capture is foreseen to put on the radio collar or capture by killing. We have informed Minister Pichetto Fratin. We expect an expression from Isrpa in line with the seriousness of the fact that occurred, after which we will proceed anyway”, said Fugatti. First there will be “an action to capture the subject and at the same time the communication to Ispra where we say that we intend to proceed with the killing”.

Animal rights activists in revolt: “Unacceptable death sentence, bear victim of electoral maneuvers”
“The identification of the bear involved in the accident with the man and his dog in Val di Rabbi, the Mj5 bear, immediately coincided with a declaration of the bear’s death sentence. As Animal Protection we will oppose it by any means to this unjust decision that smacks so much of an electoral campaign”. This was stated in a note by the National Animal Protection Agency (Enpa). “We remind you that the bear Mj5, born in 2005 by Maja and Joz, lived for 18 years in Trentino without ever showing negative behavior towards humans: he has never hurt people, and even the damages to him are limited. But following a single incident, the dynamics of which ascribe the event to cases of bears that react in a defensive mode, the death sentence starts, although the Pacobace also provides for radio collaring, without reaching suppression”, adds l association, defining “the decision is wrong and unmotivated” and speaking of an exemplary “victim of electoral maneuvers”.

The International Organization for the Protection of Animals (Oipa) is on the same line, asking: “MJ5 is an elderly bear, who has never shown aggression towards humans until now. Is it plausible to sentence him to death for a single accident?”.

“As always we will proceed with access to the documents to understand the exact dynamics of the facts, also in view of a possible appeal to the TAR – announces the president of Oipa Massimo Comparotto -. Once again we are witnessing a discharge of responsibility by the president Fugatti, who in recent years has made his practices towards the wildlife that populate his land known throughout Italy. The Province should think about preventing these episodes, also by informing citizens and hikers how to behave in the mountains , instead of evoking captures and kills as always”.

The association invites the Province, instead of working for the death, to start initiatives for a peaceful coexistence between man and wild animals at least with greater and more effective information for residents, tourists and hikers, deterrent systems that keep the fauna away from built-up area, ecological corridors to avoid accidents.