Bears may be moved from Trentino after runner's death

(ANSA) - ROME, APR 11 - Bears may be moved from Trentino to other parts of Italy after the death from a bear attack of runner Andrea Papi last week, the environment ministry said Tuesday.
    The Trentino bear population has surged from three to over 100 since they were re-introduced from Slovenia 20 years ago and many animals are becoming increasingly bold, with close encounters increasingly frequent.
    The family of Papi, a 26-year-old man who was killed by a bear while running in the woods near the Alpine town of Caldes, intend to sue the State and the Autonomous Province of Trento.
    The legal action would regard Life Ursus, the programme to bring brown bears into the central Alps at the turn of this century to stop the local population from going extinct.
    It is estimated that there are now around 100-120 bears in the province.
    The action will reportedly focus on the fact that the project was implemented without a referendum of the local population.
    The family has already spoken to lawyers.
    Several animal-rights groups and supporters, meanwhile, have criticised the order by Province of Trento President Maurizio Fugatti for the bear that killed Papi to be identified and eliminated.
    Environmental association Legambiente said that it is the first lethal attack by a bear in 150 years in Italy and, while conceding that the bear in question would now be killed, it said there was no reason to stage a "witch hunt" against the animals in general.
    A plan for the mass transfer of bears from Trentino to other areas is one of the measures that will be assessed by the Ministry of the Environment and the Autonomous Province of Trento after the attack on Papi, said a statement by the Ministry, following a meeting in Rome Tuesday morning between the minister, Gilberto Pichetto, and the president of the province, Maurizio Fugatti.
    The aim of the transfer will be to maintain a sustainable number of specimens on Trentino territory.
    A technical round table will be set up on bear management in the Alps between the Ministry, the Province and environmental agency Ispra. (ANSA).