GERMANY: Hunter kills first Bavarian bear seen in 170 years

Record ID: 663468

  • Title: GERMANY: Hunter kills first Bavarian bear seen in 170 years
  • Date: 27th June 2006
  • Summary: ANIMAL ACTIVIST DRESSED AS BEAR, BRANDISHING GERMAN FLAG ACTIVIST, PAN TO FLAG
  • Embargoed: 12th July 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Environment / Natural World
  • Reuters ID: LVA4JT5JLP9OEY1D4QSZ3GD246UT
  • Story Text: A rampaging wild bear, the first seen in Bavaria in more than 170 years, has been shot dead by a hunter, a spokesman for the local authority in the region of Oberbayern said on Monday (June 26).
    "There has been contact between security forces within the District Administrator's office. Three hunters then went up into the area and killed the bear at 04.15 am (MET). The shooting distance was about 150 metres, the bear was instantly dead, killed painlessly," Bavarian secretary of state Otmar Bernhard told journalists during a news conference.
    The young brown bear, known as "Bruno", drew widespread media coverage and was initially welcomed after it wandered across the border with Austria.
    But authorities gave hunters the green light to kill the 100-kilogram (220.5 lb) beast after it went on a rampage, slaughtering dozens of sheep and chickens.
    Authorities said the bear's hunt for food was taking it ever closer to inhabited areas and it was therefore a threat to the safety of residents.
    Hikers gave mixed reaction to the news.
    "I didn´t want him shot dead, but neither do I like the thought that we might be up here and the bear as well. But I would have preferred for them to catch him alive," said Franziska Bonemann.
    "It's a bit of a shame, really. I don´t believe he would have attacked humans. I was not scared at all," said Josef Roidel
    Germany's animal protection agency in Bavaria called the decision to shoot the bear "hysterical", but a spokesman for the World Wildlife Fund said the beast could not be left out in the wild as it was too dangerous.
    Bavarian secretary of state Otmar Bernhard told journalists at a press conference:
    "One can tell from the reports we heard how dangerous the situation had become. Hikers and bikers met the bear, who straightened up or even followed them at close distance, all of which is very dangerous and therefore unacceptable."
    Local official Anton Steixner defended the decision to shoot the bear.
    "In the general direction of fanatic animal activists who would like to shoot us now, as has become apparent from several e-mails we received: I know the bitterness is there, but the animal activists also have to understand that this bear just killed for the fun of it. And he killed sheep and rabbits on a daily basis. Those animals suffered, too," he said.
    Gabriel Schwaderer, director of the European Nature Heritage Fund, said on Monday he regretted the shooting, saying that if the reason for killing this particular bear was going to be used as a yardstick, then the outlook of brown bears, he says, is bleak.
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