«The radio collar prepares the ground for condemning M91 to death», the Lav is convinced, which intervenes after the Province of Trento announced the identity of the bear that insistently followed a hiker in the Molveno area on April 27th. It is a young specimen (probably born in 2022) who has never shown any signs of “problematicity”. After the close encounter, the Province intends to monitor its movements and behavior through a radio collar.
M91 the bear that met a hiker: «He was exemplary»
The animal rights association, however, doesn’t agree: «La scientific literature agrees in stating that one should never adopt behaviors that put a bear in a position to feel threatened, it could in fact respond aggressively in the attempt to distance the danger itself. That is to say quite the opposite of the behavior adopted by the Mantuan tourist”. In fact, from what transpires, when the bear approached within two metres, in an attempt to scare it the hiker threw stones towards the animal. «M91 – adds Massimo Vitturi, Lav manager for wild animals – he behaved in an exemplary manner, he should be held up as an example of a bear extremely tolerant in the face of human provocations.” According to Vitturi, what happened shows that too many people are still unaware of the behavior to follow in the event of an encounter with the bear. In other words, the Province is accused of providing little information.
The «Bear Ambassador» project canceled
«As if that wasn’t enough – the Lav denounces – this year the Province of Trento canceled the “Bear Ambassador” project that we had been organizing since 2021 in collaboration with the Adamello-Brenta Park, precisely to inform citizens and tourists on the practices to be adopted to prevent and safely manage any encounters with bears”. A project that over the course of three summers had allowed LAV volunteers to contact thousands of people. «Fugatti should demonstrate a bit of maturity – animal rights activists point the finger – it is necessary that roll up your sleevesworking seriously to promote peaceful coexistence with bears, instead scrap the projects who wanted to guarantee the safety of animals and citizens.”
