The girlfriend of a man who was disembowelled by a bear while jogging in the mountains has demanded that it be shot dead.
Andrea Papi, 26, was found mauled to death in the woods in the Val di Sole, in the northern Italian province of Trentino, on 5th March.
He is believed to be the first man to have been killed by a bear in the country, according to local media.
Now his girlfriend, Alessia Gregori, has said that she wants the bear to be shot dead, adding that it is no different to when a dog kills a human.
She said: “If a dog kills another dog, there is a practice that provides for it to be killed: given that a person has disappeared, I would like this to be done.”
Andrea’s mother Franca has told local media the family plans to sue the Trentino authorities for reintroducing bears in the area.
An autopsy carried out on Andrea’s body confirmed that he was killed by a bear.
And a DNA test result due in days is expected to reveal exactly which bear killed him, according to local media.
The head of the Province of Trento, Maurizio Fugatti, has now reportedly signed an urgent order for the killer bear to be culled.
Three further bears are also expected to be culled for threatening interactions with people.
Alessia said that she went to the location where her boyfriend died, adding: “I did it together with his parents, when we arrived I thought back to those damned last moments that took him away from me.”
She added: “I’ll go walking in the mountains anyway, the danger will always remain. Maybe instead of going alone I’ll go accompanied.”
Alessia explained: “A bit like a diary, where the memories remain fixed, I try to stay close to Andrea’s family, even if it is hard, even if it is difficult not to find him next to me when I go to bed.”
Andrea, says Alessia, was afraid of bears. She said: “On that mountainside, they walk and there are many of them, everyone knows that there is a danger of meeting them.
“Sometimes, in order not to think about it, he joked about it: ‘Let’s hope we don’t come across a bear’.”
Recalling the day that Andrea died, Alessia said: “Andrea went out shortly after 4 pm, we had an appointment at 7 pm: he was supposed to come and pick me up at my physiotherapy studio and we had to go together to my sister’s partner’s birthday.
“Not seeing him arrive, I called his mother Franca, then I went to check at the foot of the mountain: then I called 112 [the emergency services in Italy].
“After many hours of searching, the carabinieri came to the house and gave us the news.”
Investigators suspect Andrea might have been mauled on a path and then dragged deeper into the forest where he was disembowelled.
The case has shocked Italy, with many locals saying bear sightings have increased in the area.
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Story By: Joseph Golder, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash
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