After a bear’s fatal attack on a jogger in Italy, the animal could possibly be housed in Lower Bavaria. The sanctuary for bears in Bad Füssing (Passau district) has submitted a written declaration of intent to the administrative court in Trento to save the animal from being shot, confirmed Arpád von Gaál, chairman of the association for animals, which runs the sanctuary. According to Gaáls, several such institutions had offered the animal shelter, whereupon the court initially refrained from shooting it.
According to the website, the sanctuary is currently home to around 15 bears that came from captivity and were not kept in a species-appropriate manner. The bear Gaia could also be admitted there because she is a healthy animal, the lawyer said. There would be enough space on the former Bundeswehr site. Von Gaál reckons that a decision about Gaia’s fate could be made in May at the earliest.
The bear attacked and killed a jogger in northern Italy in April. The animal was caught alive and placed in a locked game enclosure. Several hundred people demonstrated on Sunday for the release of JJ4, as the animal is still known. They also turned against the government of Trento, which had advocated killing the animal.