A court stopped an order to kill a bear that killed a jogger in the Italian Alps. This means that the bear will live for now.
Andrea Papi was killed in the north-eastern area of Trentino-Alto Adige at the beginning of April. Many Italians were shocked by the attack.
The 17-year-old brown bear, JJ4, was later caught by park guards after DNA evidence showed she was involved.
A government order to kill her has been put on hold until June 27.
The local province government has said that the bear should be killed because she has attacked people in the past. In 2020, she hurt a father and son who were hiking on Mount Peller.
But on Friday, an administrative court in Trento partly upheld an appeal against the killing that was made by environmental groups who say the bear is innocent.
It has asked everyone involved to give more proof, including more information about a plan by those who are against the killing to send JJ4 and another bear named MJ5 to a bear reserve in Italy or somewhere else.
In March, MJ5, an 18-year-old male bear that hasn’t been caught yet, attacked a man who was walking his dog. MJ5 is also in danger of dying.
In a statement shared on social media, the animal rights group LAV said it was glad to hear the news. It said their plans to rehouse animals are “concrete and real” and that it would pay for them.
The 14th of December has been set as the date for a meeting about this plan. This means that JJ4’s execution may be put off even longer.
Andrea Papi was killed while running on the slopes of Mt. Peller in the Brenta Dolomites, above the town of Caldes. This caused fear and anger in the area. He is the first Italian person who was killed by a bear in the last few years that we know of.
JJ4 and her three cubs were with her when she was caught in a tube-shaped bear trap filled with fruit after a two-week hunt in which forest rangers with dogs followed her tracks in the snow in the woods of the Meledrio valley.
All of the kids had grown up enough to no longer need their mother.
Bears are a protected species in Italy, and since they were brought back to the area 20 years ago, their number has been growing.
The parents of JJ4 were brought from Slovenia to northern Italy as part of a European project called “Life Ursus” to protect wolves.
Last month, the governor of Trentino, Maurizio Fugatti, said that there should be about 50 wild bears, but that the province now has about 70 “extra” bears.