BOLZANO. “Population regulation and the removal of dangerous animals are essential.” The president of the Bolzano Provincial Council said this, Arnold Schulerspeaking at a conference of the “Initiative Braunbär” (translated as “Brown Bear Initiative”) in the Bavarian district ofUpper Allgäu, the southernmost in Germany. Schuler, invited for the experience he had with large predators when he was provincial councilor for agriculture, forestry, tourism and civil protection, reported on the origins of the Trentino project “Life Ursus“, on the presence of bears in South Tyrol as well as on the related experiences and problems.
So far, the presence of bears has only been confirmed twice in the Upper Allgäu: in 2019, bear scat was found in Balderschwang and in 2023, a bear was spotted in the Hintersteinertal. One was also recently spotted in Lech in Vorarlberg, an area that borders the Upper Allgäu.
“Even if the problem is not yet serious in the region, we still want to be prepared“, said Schuler. This year, Schuler further reported, up to eight bears could be taken from Trentino for the first time. The bears spotted in the Upper Allgäu region could also come from Trentino.
There is currently discussion about how to manage the presence of brown bears in the future. “For the future, it is essential to regulate the bear population and remove dangerous animals, which based on experience and according to experts are around three percent of the total,” Schuler argued.
