(ANSA) - ROME, APR 12 - The bear that killed 26-year-old trail runner Andrea Papi while he was out on a training run in countryside in the province of Trento last week has been identified as a female animal named Jj4, prosecutors said on Wednesday.
Papi is the first Italian to be killed by a bear in modern times.
The bear was identified via the analysis of genetic material carried out by the Edmund Mach Foundation.
In June 2022 Jj4 attacked two people, a father and son, on Mt. Peller.
The provincial government had issued an order for the animal to be killed but it was overturned by a court.
A radio collar was put on the bear but its battery is flat and no longer transmits signals regarding Jj4's whereabouts.
The 17-year-old animal was born in Trento after the mating of two bears brought to Italy from Slovenia in 2000 and 2001 as part of the Life Ursus programme to repopulate the area's then-dwindling brown-bear population.
The Trentino bear population has since surged to around 100 and many animals are becoming increasingly bold, with close encounters increasingly frequent.
The family of Papi, 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 over Life Ursus.
Bears may be moved from Trentino to other parts of Italy after the death of Papi, the environment ministry said Tuesday.
Province of Trento President Maurizio Fugatti last week issued an order for the bear that killed Papi to be identified and eliminated.
Photo: an archive image of a bear. (ANSA).