Bear attacks and kills 26-year-old out for a run in the woods in Italy, officials say
_fitted.png "An Italian man was attacked and killed by a bear while going for a run near Monte Peller in northern Italy, officials say.")
A 26-year-old man was found mauled to death in the woods in northern Italy after he didn’t return home from a run, officials told news outlets.
The runner, identified as 26-year-old Andrea Papi, left his home in Caldes to go for a run along a wooded mountain trail in Val di Sole on Wednesday, April 5, officials told ANSA.
The community of Caldes is roughly 140 miles northwest of Venice.
When Papi didn’t come back from his outing when expected, his girlfriend contacted authorities for help, Australian outlet 9News reported.
Search crews found Papi dead on Monte Peller, and investigators said his wounds are consistent with a bear attack, according to the outlet.
Bears were reintroduced in the region in the late 1990s, but as the original population of 50 has grown over the years, so have bear sightings and attacks, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported.
Regional President Mario Fugatti is calling for the bear behind the attack to be tracked down and killed, “to guarantee public safety,” the outlet reported. Fugatti added that the “surplus” bear population must be dealt with to prevent attacks in the future.
Environmental organization Legambiente has spoken out since the attack, encouraging restraint instead of retaliation, 9News reported. According to Legambiente, Papi’s death marks the first fatal bear attack in Italy in 150 years.
This story was originally published April 9, 2023 at 8:31 AM with the headline "Bear attacks and kills 26-year-old out for a run in the woods in Italy, officials say."