Unusual. On vacation in Italy, a French tourist attacked by a bear

A foreign tourist was attacked by a bear this Tuesday morning in the north of Italy, in the town of Naroncolo, not far from Trento.

“The man was rescued by medical personnel and transported by helicopter to the Santa Chiara hospital in Trento with injuries” which are not life-threatening, the province of Trentino said in a brief statement.

According to local media, the victim was a 43-year-old Frenchman who had gone for a walk in the woods when he was attacked by the mammal. The province said forest rangers responded to the scene to try to identify the bear behind the attack.

In 2021, there were about a hundred bears in the province of Trento, including adults and cubs.

A previous murderer last year

In April 2023, an Italian jogger was killed by a bear in Trentino, a first in Italy.

The bear accused of killing the jogger – she was innocent, animal rights activists say – was separated from her cubs after the incident and taken to an enclosure.

After numerous appeals from animal rights activists, provincial authorities announced in May that the bear, identified as JJ4, would be transferred to Germany later this year, to a shelter near the Black Forest.

The bear reintroduction plan (“Life Ursus”) in the province of Trentino, implemented between 1996 and 2004, planned for 50 plantigrades but there are now more.