Problem bear JJ4 is allowed to live after fatally attacking Jogger

The Supreme Administrative Court in Rome has stopped the killing of the “problem bear” JJ4 and thus upheld the objection of animal rights activists. The shooting was “disproportionate”. The bear killed a jogger months ago.

The bear that attacked and killed a jogger in Trentino, northern Italy, in the first week of April is allowed to live on. That was the decision of the Supreme Administrative Court in Rome, thus allowing the objection by animal protection organizations against the shooting of the bear JJ4.

In the first week of April, the bear attacked and fatally injured a jogger in Trentino, northern Italy. The provincial president then ordered the animal to be shot.

The animal rights activists had appealed against the authorities’ order to kill – JJ4 may have attacked the jogger because there were bear cubs nearby. The family of the dead man spoke out against killing the bear, but the provincial president ordered the animal to be shot.

“Incompatible with national regulations”

The judges in Rome ruled that the order to kill the bear was “disproportionate” and “incompatible with national regulations”. Now the administrative court in Trento has to discuss the case again, taking into account the judge’s decision from Rome.

Killing an animal is the last resort. There can only be exceptions to the ban on killing protected species if there is no other solution. The judges in Rome are thus showing a possible way out of the case.

The animal protection organization LAV had offered to transport the bear, which is registered under the code JJ4, to a bear sanctuary in Romania at its own expense. The Italian Ministry of the Environment and the Romanian authorities had already approved such a transfer.

Further firing order raised up

With today’s decision, another shooting order from the province of Trento is also lifted. The bear “MJ5” is said to have attacked and injured hikers. He is still in the wild.

Bear JJ4 is trapped in an enclosure in Casteller in Trentino. After attacking and fatally injuring the jogger in early April, she was searched for two weeks and finally caught on April 18.

With information from Tilmann Kleinjung, BR