Andrea Papi: Bear JJ4 that killed Italian Alpine jogger spared death

A bear that killed a jogger in the Italian Alps has had its life spared for now after a court suspended an order to have it euthanised.

Andrea Papi died in early April in the north-eastern region of Trentino-Alto Adige in an attack that shocked many Italians.

The 17-year-old brown bear, known as JJ4, was later captured by park rangers after DNA proved she was involved.

An order by the authorities to kill her has now been frozen until 27 June.

The local provincial government has argued the bear needs to be put down as she has a history of attacking humans - injuring a father and son while they were hiking on Mount Peller in 2020.

But the Trento administrative court on Friday partially upheld an appeal against the destruction that was made by environmental groups, who claim the bear is innocent.

It has called on all parties involved to provide more evidence, including further details of a plan by those opposed to the killing to send JJ4 and another bear, known as MJ5, to a bear reserve either in Italy or abroad.

MJ5, an 18-year-old male bear that has yet to be captured, attacked a man who was walking his dog in March and is also facing death.

In a statement posted on social media, animal rights lobby group LAV welcomed the news, saying their rehousing plans are "concrete and real" and that it would fund them.

A hearing about this plan has been set for 14 December, meaning JJ4's execution may be delayed further.

Andrea Papi was fatally attacked while jogging above the town of Caldes on the slopes of Mt Peller in the Brenta Dolomites, prompting fear and anger in the region. He is the first Italian known to have been killed by a bear in recent years.

JJ4 had been with her three cubs when she was captured in a tube-style bear trap filled with fruit following an intensive two-week hunt, in which forest rangers with dogs tracked her footprints in snow in woodland in the Meledrio valley.

All of the cubs were weaned and already independent of their mother.

Bears are a protected species in Italy, and their population has been increasing in recent years after they were reintroduced to the region two decades ago.

JJ4's own parents had been brought into northern Italy from Slovenia under the "Life Ursus" European conservation project.

Last month, Trentino governor Maurizio Fugatti said the optimal number of wild bears was roughly 50 and that the province now had around 70 "excess" bears.