A bear attacked and murdered a jogger on a wooded trail in North-west Italy, the first incidence of its sort, a source close to the matter told AFP Friday.
Andrea Papi, 26, was murdered while jogging Wednesday in the hilly hills surrounding his hamlet, Caldes, in the Trentino province, claimed the source.
His family raised the alarm when he failed to return and a search team located his corpse overnight.
He had sustained serious wounds to the neck, arms and chest and an autopsy conducted on Friday indicated he had been attacked by a bear, the source stated, matching Italian press accounts.
Previously in March, a man had been mauled by a bear in the same territory, generating a discussion on the hazards presented by the creatures, who were reintroduced there between 1996 and 2004.
The local administration has chosen to pursue and kill the animal after it had been discovered, Trentino region president Maurizio Fugatti told reporters Friday evening.
Environmental organization WWF had previously recognized that it needed to be put down.
However, Annamaria Procacci a former environmentalist deputy who now works with the animal protection organization ENPA criticised the lack of safeguards taken by local authorities.
Bears typically maintained their distance from humans, she explained.
The local administration had to guarantee that humans were kept away from zones where mother bears were rearing their pups, she noted.
