Alpine Bear Killing Sparks Outrage, Cubs' Fate Uncertain

The alpine Italian province of Trento has confirmed the killing of a female bear believed responsible for an attack on a French hiker earlier this month. The killing has sparked protests from animal rights activists who say the bear's three cubs are now in "serious difficulty to survive."

The International Organization for Animal Protection (OPIA) said the order to kill the bear, identified as Kj1, was issued overnight, making it impossible to seek a legal stay.

"OPIA Italia is disconcerted at the culling of Kj1, which we tried to save with two legal actions,'' said Claudia Taccani, a lawyer for the organization. "Unfortunately, this was not done."

The province of Trento, which enjoys a large degree of autonomy from the Italian government, has been at the center of controversy over the culling of brown bears that it says have encroached too confidently in human territory in recent years.

A DNA analysis taken after the French hiker was attacked indicated that Kj1 was responsible.

"Kj1 was a dangerous specimen,'' the province said in a statement, citing a scale that rates the threat posed by bears. "The animal was found to be responsible for at least seven interactions with humans,'' including the July 16 attack on the 43-year-old French hiker in the municipality of Dro, north of Garda Lake.

The hiker reportedly strayed off the path at about 1,600 feet of altitude on an early morning hike and encountered the bear that injured him in the leg and arm. The hiker escaped and called for help.

It was the ninth incidence of aggression against humans since brown bears were reintroduced to the province in 1999 as part of an European Union project, and the first since a hiker was killed last summer.