Rome [Italy], April 24: Hundreds of people have demonstrated for a brown bear to be released that fatally injured a jogger in northern Italy. Early on Sunday afternoon, around 300 protesters gathered in front of the Casteller animal protection centre in Trentino province, where the female bear is being kept, according to the ANSA news agency.
Besides calling for the release of the bear, known as JJ4, they also demonstrated against the provincial government led by Maurizio Fugatti, who had ordered the bear to be shot. After a complaint by animal rights activists, a court suspended the shooting order. Various animal welfare associations and private individuals, some even travelling from abroad, joined the protest. As seen in videos and photos, people took part in a procession to the enclosure's fence. Protesters also called for the complete release of all captive bears. They carried placards with slogans like "bears are the victims of the provincial government" and "those who separate mothers and children are monsters" were written on placards. JJ4 was separated from her three cubs when she was caught.
JJ4, also known as Gaia and the sister of Bruno, a bear killed in the south German state of Bavaria in 2006, had attacked and killed a 26-year-old jogger in Trentino in early April. Since her capture in mid-April, the 17-year-old bear has been kept in a fenced-off game enclosure with another bear identified as M49. A court hearing on JJ4's fate is scheduled for May 11. Meanwhile, a heated debate has erupted in Italy over the coexistence of bears and humans.
Source: Qatar Tribune