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Fear of predators in Italy: mountain rescuers no longer move out at night – search for pensioners canceled

2023-06-06T03:01:29.289Z

Highlights: Trentino Mountain Rescue (Italy) has decided not to carry out any more night missions due to the high risk of predator attack. One man has already been killed this year, another seriously injured: bears and wolves have become a risk in Trentino for everyone who is in nature – including mountain rescuers. They now stay at home at night in areas where the predators exist. The new regulation is not yet in force, but it is already being applied in practice, reports Raffaele De Col, chief civil protection officer of the province of Trentino.



One man has already been killed this year, another seriously injured: bears and wolves have become a risk in Trentino for everyone who is in nature – including mountain rescuers. They now stay at home at night in areas where the predators exist.

Trento - Holidaymakers who are planning a mountain tour between Lake Garda and the Stelvio Pass should now carefully consider whether they will reach the safe valley before dark. The Trentino Mountain Rescue (Italy) has decided not to carry out any more night missions due to the high risk of predator attack. So if you get lost or have an accident in the dark, you are not only exposed to the weather, but also to bears and wolves.

There are many bears in Trentino, which is a high risk for mountain rescuers. © IMAGO / R. Kistowski/wonderful-earth

In recent weeks, new behavioural criteria have been established for mountain rescue to protect emergency services, reports the Trentino newspaper l'Adige. The new rules state that mountain rescuers will no longer go on night missions in areas where there are bears and wolves because it is too dangerous for them. Officially, the new regulation is not yet in force, but it is already being applied in practice, reports Raffaele De Col, chief civil protection officer of the province of Trentino. The stop applies from dusk and thus between 17 p.m. and 19 p.m. and until the early hours of the morning from 4 a.m. to 5 a.m.

Bear killed jogger in Italy - pensioner disappeared without a trace

The background to this are incidents such as the fatal attack of a bear on the jogger Andrea Papi at the beginning of April this year or the attack on a walker in March, in which the man was seriously injured. In June 2020, a man saved the life of his son, who was attacked by a bear.

The mountain rescuers in Trentino no longer go out at night in the bear area. © https://www.soccorsoalpinotrentino.it

In light of these incidents, it is wiser to stop carrying out nighttime rescue operations in areas known to be populated by bears or wolf packs, De Col told RAI. Thus, the search for a missing pensioner (85), who disappeared last week from a nursing home in Val di Sole, was canceled after dark. The search dogs had reacted nervously.

70 bears are to be shot or relocated in the Italian Trentino (South Tyrol)

In Trentino, it is currently estimated that there is a bear population of 120 animals, concentrated west of the Adige River between the Stelvio Pass and the northern Lake Garda area, especially in Val di Sole and Monte Peller. Individual animals also appear in neighbouring provinces such as South Tyrol or migrate on to Tyrol, Salzburger Land or as far as Bavaria.

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The provincial president of Trentino, Maurizio Fugatti, wants to reduce the number of bears in Trentino to 50 animals by relocating or shooting. Between 1999 and 2002, ten bears were released in the area of the Adamello-Brenta National Park, in the north-west of the province of Trentino, as the local population had shrunk to three animals and was in danger of extinction. The abandoned bears came from Slovenia.

It's not just bears that are bothering Italy. A 56-year-old woman was attacked and injured by a wolf in Abruzzo in May while walking her dog.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2023-06-06

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