Switzerland's Only Recorded Bear Killed by Gamekeepers

Switzerland's only recorded bear, called M13, was shot dead by gamekeepers as it posed a major threat to humans, officials said Wednesday.

The male brown bear, dubbed Mike by its fans, lived in the mountainous Graubuenden region of eastern Switzerland, on the border with Italy. The animal used to spend the spring seasons in the Val Poschiavo valley.

According to Swiss gamekeepers, the bear had increasingly headed into human settlements in search of food. In 2011, the bear was fitted with a tracking device which was lost after the animal was hit by a train on the local Rhaetian Railway in 2012. M13 was fitted with another device to keep a close watch on him.

The bear, which was about 3 years old, was sighted on various occasions, such as breaking into beehives and entering several residential areas. Even before wildlife officials decided to cull the bear, they had tried to ward off the animal numerous times by firing rubber pellets and firecrackers. But M13 was increasingly posing a threat to humans, reports Agence France-Presse news agency.

The bear awoke from its winter sleep just a few days ago and had started approaching humans. "Both in the autumn and now after waking from his winter sleep, the bear kept looking for food in villages, had followed people in broad daylight and - despite repeated measures to scare him off - showed absolutely no fear of humans," said a statement from the Federal Office for the Environment, according to Swissinfo.ch website.

"He was classified as a risk to human safety. Under Switzerland's 'bear plan' it became inevitable that he would be shot."

M13 was shot dead by gamekeepers on Feb. 19. He was one of the three bears that were part of a program in Italy's Trentino Alto Adige region to reintroduce an animal that was wiped out by hunters long ago. The other two bears M12 and M14 were brothers to M13. They died last year after they were hit by cars in Italy.