JJ4, the female bear suspected of attacking and killing a runner in Italy, has been captured. An animal rights group is now calling for her release, arguing that the bear that killed 26-year-old Andrea Papi was a male.
Animal welfare association Leal believes that forensics prove JJ4’s innocence. DNA tests show that the teeth marks on Papi’s body were consistent with a male bear and “have the same value as human fingerprints,” according to a Facebook post.
Leal also says that the evidence suggests the nature of the attack wasn’t “a deliberate or predatory attack” but rather an effort to “dissuade” Papi that escalated. A blood-stained branch near the scene suggested that the runner fought hard for his life. The association intends to present this evidence to a regional court before it announces JJ4’s fate on May 11.
Maurizio Fugatti, the president of Trentino province, maintains that the bear should be put down for Papi’s attack and a previous, non-fatal attack of two hikers in 2020. He has stated that, if it were up to him, JJ4 would have been “shot during its capture.” His position has prompted Leal to call for his immediate resignation.
Papi’s mother, Franca Ghirardini, stated that she doesn’t support killing JJ4. “Killing the bear won’t give me Andrea back,” she told Corriere del Trentino. However, JJ4’s life, or death, is ultimately up to the court.
JJ4 is 17 years old and was born in Trento to two bears who had been relocated from Slovenia to Italy as part of Life Ursus, an effort to bolster the region’s bear population. JJ4’s capture separated her from her cubs. As of now, about 100 bears live in the Trento area, including MJ5, another bear that attacked a human in the same province earlier this year.
In a May 5 Facebook post, Fugatti called for a larger response to these animal attacks in Trentino and beyond. “We have noticed a sensitivity on the topic so much that a discussion opened up during the council of ministers. Here we have repeatedly emphasized how, to solve the problem, it is necessary to carry out legislative initiatives not only in Italy, but also in Europe, because the problem is not only about Trentino,” he said.
Kells McPhillips is a health and wellness journalist living in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared in Runner's World, The New York Times, Well+Good, Fortune, Shape, and others.
