URSIDE

Struggling for a coexistence with bear in Trentino Alto Adige

 

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On February 6, a team from the Trentino Forestry Corps went into action in a mountain area of ​​the Lower Val di Sole to kill the bear M90 on the orders of the president of the region Maurizio Fugatti. Ispra also gave a favorable opinion, following the guidelines of the scale of problematicity reported in the PACOBACE (interregional action plan for the conservation of the brown bear in the central-eastern Alps). The reason for the killing seems to be that of being faced with a confident bear, that is, an animal that approaches humans as well as inhabited centers and that often preys on farm animals.

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Bears in Italy had become extinct in the seventies, precisely because of indiscriminate and arbitrary killings. The reintroduction of the bear in our country was possible through the implementation of the Life Ursus project at the Adamello Brenta National Park, which involved the importation of 9 individuals from Slovenia (3 males and 6 females aged between 3 and 6 years) to recreate a bear population of 40-50 individuals in 20-40 years. The project was successfully concluded in 2004, bringing the bear population to around 50 specimens. In the meantime, today the culling begins again.

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However, the killing line is not the solution and, to tell the truth, it does not solve the problem. In Abruzzo, for example, a team of researchers from the PNALM (National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise) constantly monitors the activities of the bears in order to constantly inform the population, equip the inhabited centers with hermetically sealed bins and the farms with electric fences; the system seems to work. In Trentino, however, we are far behind on the front of peaceful coexistence, the line adopted by the region seems to be to continue with the culling. However, there are cases that demonstrate that an alternative is possible. Nicolò and Sonia, sheep farmers, move to high ground in the summer and use guard dogs to defend the flock, in addition to using camera traps to detect the movements of bears during the night and organize themselves so as not to invade the spaces inhabited by the bear.