Bavaria's former Prime Minister Edmund Stoiber speaks in an interview about the end of the problem bear Bruno and the current case in Trentino.
Munich – The death of a 26-year-old jogger in Trentino after a bear attack is making waves – not only in Italy.
The case also brings back memories in Bavaria.
Especially since the female bear, who has been conspicuous several times, is the sister of the former Bavarian "problem bear" Bruno, as a DNA comparison showed.
In conversation, Bavaria's former Prime Minister Edmund Stoiber (CSU) remembers the toxic debate in the Free State after Bruno was released for shooting.
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Edmund Stoiber thinks back to the poisonous Bruno debate.
At that time there was harsh criticism of the shooting decision.
© dpa/Kurzendörfer
Mr Stoiber, what thoughts went through your head when you heard that it was Bruno's sister who killed a young jogger in South Tyrol?
Stoiber:
The news touched me because it was a terrible misfortune that happened to the young man.
And of course I immediately thought of the enormous excitement that we felt in Bavaria in May 2006 when, for the first time in 170 years, a bear appeared in the wild in Bavaria.
They faced a great deal of hostility when, after weeks of observation, the state government ordered Bruno's killing in June.
Stoiber:
Experts urgently warned us at the time that Bruno posed the greatest danger to life and limb.
My Environment Minister Werner Schnappauf reported to me that the animal was out of control.
That's why he issued the shooting order, and I supported this decision with deep conviction, even if it brought us severe hostilities from animal rights activists.
Looking back on the tragedy in South Tyrol today, you made the right decision...
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Angry protests: After Bruno was shot down in 2006, animal rights activists around ex-city councilor Bernhard Fricke (middle) held a memorial service for the killed brown bear on Munich's Marienplatz.
© Kurzendörfer
Stoiber looks back on Bruno's order: "There was no alternative"
Stoiber:
There was no alternative.
A person's life is above everything.
And experts have made it very clear to us: This bear is a deadly danger because it showed a conspicuous behavior that was completely unusual for a wild bear.
He has approached human settlements without hesitation, and unfortunately all efforts to scare him have been unsuccessful.
Apparently he had learned this behavior from his mother, as had apparently his sister.
Stoiber:
Unfortunately, the terrible incident in South Tyrol shows in a terrible way how right the experts were at the time.
The state government has kept a huge secret about the identity of the hunters.
Stoiber:
Of course, there was no other way, there were even death threats from so-called animal rights activists.
Attempts to capture Bruno unfortunately failed at the time.
We even asked Finnish hunters to help us, but they couldn't catch him.
So the Lower Nature Conservation Authority put together a special team to find him, but they had to remain anonymous to protect those involved.
They tracked down the bear on the Kümpflalm, not far from the Croda Rossa.
"The bear had to be killed"
As prime minister, you probably couldn't have imagined, even in your wildest fantasies, that you'd be babbled on about such a decision...
Stoiber:
In politics, you are sometimes faced with atypical decisions.
This was one of those.
In the end, no one can make that decision for you.
And if the responsible minister and all the experts say that there is a danger to life, then there is no longer any leeway for weighing things up.
Then you have to do what has to be done.
In this case, that meant: Bruno the bear had to be killed.
But your popularity in Bavaria went downhill.
Stoiber:
I didn't want to be popular, I wanted to avert a danger.
Perhaps some people who criticized us so harshly at the time see things differently today.
Interview: Georg Anastasiadis
List of rubrics: © dpa/Kurzendörfer
