Following the death of a 26-year old man after being attacked by a wild bear, in 2023, local authorities invited residents to take part in a non-binding vote of how these animals should be treated.
Referendum calls for removal of wild bears and wolves in Northern Italy
The vote which took place on Sunday October 27 in the Val di Sole area of the autonomous Trentino province in the far-north of Italy was overwhelming in favour of taking action to control both bears and wolves with 63 percent of all those entitled to vote turning out.
98 per cent called for their removal in non-binding vote
The anti-vote was 7,731, 98 per cent of the entire vote in the referendum and the pro-vote was just 111.
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The concept of importing bears from Slovenia was introduced 25 years ago and just 50 bears found their way across the border but in that time, there has been an explosion of births and it is now estimated that at least 100 wild bears now exist.
Although Sunday’s referendum has no legal impact, it carries significant political weight, with Trentino’s governor Maurizio Fugatti leading calls to control bear numbers by culling and with a population of 200 wolves now this is another worry for those living in the area.
Animal charities are against but in a significant minority
Understandably a number of animal charities including the WWF are opposed to any culling but with another individual, a 33-year-old Italian man recently being attacked by a bear while picking mushrooms near the village of Rango in Trentino people are worried although he doesn’t want action taken against the bear.
One option being considered is to find one way of catching and transporting excess numbers to other parts of Italy or Europe.
It is now argued that the local economy is suffering with a danger to public safety, a detriment to the economy with tourists now ‘scared’ to visit the area and local livestock endangered.
Italian government needs to act
The Italian government will now have to become involved in the decision making process.