Vital survival… or complete madness? Debate rages as freed 800-pound killer bears terrorize Italian villages

The mountain village of Caldes, surrounded by forests under the jagged peaks of the Alps, has been officially recognized as one of the most beautiful towns in Italy.

Despite this, many villagers are afraid to go into these forests today. An elderly woman told me that she had given up hiking and nature photography. Her neighbor alerted him to the trails that are no longer walked every weekend.

Giuseppe Rizzi, 72, chairman of the village council, stopped walking his dog to visit his plot in the forest. And his wife Alba doesn’t feel safe going out after dark, saying: ‘I don’t remember ever being this scared growing up.’

The reason these villagers—many descended from generations of hardy mountain people who lived as hunters and herders—are so fearful is simple: a neighbor was mauled to death by a bear while on the run last year.

The attack on Andrea Papi, 26, while jogging in the Dolomites shocked Italy and sparked a national debate about the wisdom of the brown bear reintroduction policy.

The meeting pitted politicians against animal protectors, conservationists against local people. The bear, although not jailed by the country’s highest court, is now held in captivity, with wildlife experts complaining about the cruelty of her “prison”.

The controversy recently reignited after another bear was killed on the orders of the region’s governor after attacking a French tourist. In an unexpected twist, the victim, Vivien Triffaux, 43, then said he was “really sad” about his role in the death of the mother, who was protecting her young, adding: “It really hurts me that our meeting cost her her life.”

The saga of how to deal with aggressive bears following the success of a ‘rewilding’ project in the Italian Alps comes as hundreds more brown bears are being culled across Europe – from Sweden to Romania.

“We have lost our bearings on this issue,” says environmentalist Francesco Romito. “We need to preserve bears for the future, but also understand the concerns of the local community.”

The bear, now in captivity and responsible for Italy’s first fatal shooting in 150 years, has been named JJ4 – the fourth daughter of Joze and Jurek, two bears captured in Slovenia and released with eight others into a national park near Trento more than two decades.

Their relocation was part of a project called Life Ursus, which began after bears in the region were on the brink of extinction.

This EU-backed program to restore top predators has been deemed a success, with at least 120 bears now living in the region. There were inevitably close encounters with people.

Eurasian brown bears are large beasts. They can be taller than a human, weigh up to 800 lb, and charge at 35 miles per hour, with males moving vast distances. Although they are usually shy of humans and mostly nocturnal, they can react aggressively when startled – especially mothers with cubs.

After Andrea Papi was killed by JJ4, it was revealed that the bear had been involved in an attack four years earlier – mauling a man who was hiking with his father. In the past decade, there have been at least six other attacks that resulted in serious injuries.

Many houses in Caldes now have placards demanding “Justice for Andrea”. His father, Carlo, told me that people are furious about the remodeling plan and the failure to inform residents of the attacks.

“I’m full of anger,” said the retired head waiter. “The authorities knew there was a dangerous bear, but they didn’t warn anyone.

“We have been waiting for justice, but it never seems to come. We want accountability – someone who goes to jail. The decision to reintroduce bears was a disaster.”

Residents of Caldes told me they saw a bear walking around the playground last night. A few days ago, one woman said, the car was badly damaged by a bear that stood on it to reach fruit from the tree. Alberto Perli, the mayor of the popular tourist town of Andalo, said that even fixing the garbage cans in concrete did not stop these powerful animals from knocking them over in search of food. The authorities are now building underground storage tanks.

Polls by Trentino’s wildlife department found that the reintroduction project initially had good support, but now 70 percent of local residents dislike their growing bear population.

Franca Ghirardini, 61, the mother of the fatally mangled runner, complained that locals were never consulted about the wilderness redevelopment.

But there was such an uproar after her son’s death that she and her husband suffered a vile barrage of hate messages and abuse on social media, leading to 21 complaints to the police.

Some regional government employees also quit because of the animosity the initial decision to shoot JJ4 had sparked among animal lovers.

The bear’s life was spared – along with another animal that attacked a tourist – after campaigners appealed to Italy’s highest court and judges ruled that putting it down would be “disproportionate” punishment.

Claudio Groff, who heads Trent’s large beast division, said the JJ4 is likely to be deported to Germany later this year. “Working with bears means removing those that pose a danger to humans,” he said.

Marina Chini of Collettivo Scobi, an animal rights campaigner who opposes the removal of JJ4, says the risk of being mauled by a bear is negligible compared to other dangers in the mountains. “Many, many more people are killed by cars,” she said.

Alessandro de Guelmi, a retired veterinarian who trapped 18 bears for research and public safety between 2014 and 2019 when he oversaw trapping in Trentino, said the “fantastic” system had been destroyed after politicians took over. “I’ve never had a problem because bears are smart. If you know what you’re doing, they won’t hurt you,” he said.

He explained that it’s a normal reaction to scream when he encounters a bear, but it scares him. He told me about how he once came across a sleeping bear. I gently tugged on its cheek, like a cat or a child, and it opened its eyes to me. I thought he was going crazy, but as soon as he opened his eyes I knew he was fine. It was the most beautiful moment in my life. It was as if she smiled at me.’

Nevertheless, he believes that it is better to kill rogue animals than to keep them behind bars. “Capture is the worst thing you can do to a bear – they have to be free or dead.”