Aggressive Bear JJ4 Captured Days After Fatal Attack on Jogger — Italy

After killing a jogger in Italy, an aggressive bear known as JJ4 was captured a few days later.

The early April death of Andrea Papi in the northeastern region of Trentino-Alto Adige shocked the people of Italy.

JJ4: Aggressive Bear

The bear was eventually identified as JJ4, a 17-year-old, and the bear's killing were ordered by the authorities.

However, the decision regarding the fate of the bear has not yet been made. JJ4 has been transported to a wildlife center instead of being shot on sight as originally ordered.

The bear would have been put down eventually if a court granted permission at a hearing next month, according to provincial governor Maurizio Fugatti.

Fear and rage spread throughout the area after Andrea Papi was fatally attacked by the aggressive bear while jogging above the town of Caldes in the Brenta Dolomites on the slopes of Mt. Peller. Papi is the first Italian reported to have died in the last few years at the hands of a bear.

In Italy, bears are a protected species, and since they were reintroduced to the area two decades ago, their population has been growing recently.

Life Ursus Conservation Project

Just three or four brown bears from the park's native population remained as of ten years ago, and they were found in three different locations. The population was thought to be nearly extinct. This project's second phase aimed to carry on the initiatives launched during the first phase. The project's main goal was the release of five additional specimens found in Slovenia, according to the Life Public Database.

JJ4's biological parents had been transported from Slovenia to northern Italy as part of the "Life Ursus" European conservation project. On Mount Peller in 2020, it had already attacked and hurt a father and son who were hiking.

After forest rangers with dogs tracked her footprints in the snow in the Meledrio Valley woodland, the bear and her three cubs were captured in a culvert-style bear trap filled with fruit.

According to officials, she had recently displayed aggression, destroying cameras set up to record her movements.

The captured bear was tranquilized and brought to the Casteller animal center outside of Trento.

Surge in Bear Population

If action is not taken to reduce the number of bears, which has increased in recent years and reached at least 100, government officials in the Brenta Dolomites region have threatened to leave their posts.

The head of civil protection in Trentino reassured the general public that neither of JJ4's two cubs, who were also captured but later released, posed a threat to people.

According to local officials, the three cubs were weaning off their mother's milk and were all around two years old, BBC News reports. Officials added that after their mother was taken, the cubs left the area.

101 cubs and 10 bears in total were brought to Trentino as part of wildlife reintroduction in the Park Adamello Brenta. Of this supposed population, 60 bears are reported missing. According to Dolomiti Premiere, deaths are caused by avalanches, falls, predation, and killings by male bears, as well as by human deeds like poisoning, accidents, poaching, and authorized haunting.