Mother Bear Dies in Failed Capture

The bear named Daniza recently mauled a man who had been out searching for mushrooms. The bear had felt her cubs were threatened when she attacked, but Italian officials attempted a capture of the animal anyways, and it went horribly wrong.

Daniza was an 18-year old brown bear who had been transferred from Slovenia into the woodlands around Trentino in 2000. Unfortunately, nearly 14 years after becoming acclimated to her new home, the brown bear suddenly found herself in the midst of a massive debate between wildlife authorities and concerns for public safely.

Daniza had attacked a 38-year-old man named Daielle Maturi last August after he accidentally stumbled upon her cubs while searching for mushrooms. As a result, many authorities claimed that this was evidence that the bear was a threat to the public and should be taken into captivity.

Late last August, Donatella Bianchi, the Chairman of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Italy, declared that he and his organization could not condone this action, as Maturi did not die and the animal had simply been doing what mothers do, protect their children.

The WWF "wishes for a speedy recovery to Mr. Daniele Mature but expresses indignation and calls for the competent authorities to operate with the utmost scientific rigor - renouncing hasy or easy decisions - and evaluating all the elements, both animal and human, [in this case] with serenity and calm," he announced in a statement.

However, in a statement issued by the province of Trento on Thursday, it was revealed that authorities had gone ahead with the capture plan, which went horribly wrong.

"The capture team's intervention allowed the bear to go to sleep, but she did not survive," read the statement, via The Guardian. An autopsy was performed after the confirmed death, showing that the anesthesia used on Danzia affected the animal poorly.

Donatella Bianchi, the president of WWF Italy called this apparent mistake "unacceptable," adding that time and time again the institutions of Italy have shown that they do not have the required expertise to appropriately tackle these kinds of incidents.

"This whole affair demonstrates the inability to maintain a healthy and legitimate relationship between the presence of large carnivores and human activities," she said in a scathing statement.