In Europe, the bear is relatively common in the eastern part of the continent, while the western part is characterized by a numerically small and isolated populations that live in the Pyrenees, the Alps (brown bear in the Alps) and the Apennines (Marsicano brown bear). The main cause of the recession of this animal is certainly the hunt, often encouraged, to which all things considered, until very recently it has undergone. Killings were motivated by ignorance, superstition, sometimes justified by an atavistic fear of aggressive behavior can become involved in those particularly stressed and mothers accompanied by children. The last legal killing of a bear in Trentino from the last 30 years (the species is protected by 1939).

The bear European preferably lives in wooded mountainous areas, preferably interspersed with large clearings, in an area difference varying from 500 to 2000m above sea level, where there is ample availability of refuge areas and feeding areas.

The adult male bear can weigh about 150kg and is about 1.20 meters tall at the withers The female is smaller and usually weighs less than 100kg. It is a stocky animal, snout rounded and elongated. Coat color, like the size, is very variable, tending to brown or gray with black accents, but often in colors very clear. In particular young people are generally characterized by a whitish spot around the neck and chest, destined to disappear with time.

It is an animal characterized by excellent hearing and smell, sight mediocre. Very long-lived, living in the wild up to 20 to 25 years, but in captivity can easily reach 40 or more.

Reaches sexual maturity at 3.5 to 5.5 years. The mating period falls in summer (June-July), while the number of births take place in January in the period of hibernation. Generally arise one or two small, sometimes three. Each female spent with their children throughout the year following the birth, giving numerous and complex parental care (which is why children often bears the subject tend to be of the same problematic behaviors). The shares will occur on average once every three years.

Bears are animals wandering, lonely and very individualistic in nature. The winter season is spent in shelters (dens) in a state of semiletargo, induced by environmental factors (temperature and photoperiod). Everyone usually has several shelters.

It is an animal with almost no natural enemies. Interspecific predatory activity is limited to a few species of small mammals and nesting birds on the ground, otherwise it feeds on insects and lignicoli soil and plants. It is considered a "carnivore failed. "

Spotting a bear is a very rare. If this occurs, try to observe the animal in silence, without assuming attitudes that might seem aggressive. In particular, we avoid Interporc between a female and her baby, could be very dangerous.

In an attempt to revive the fortunes of the last group of brown bears in the Alps, was launched in 1996 by the European Union LIFE funding the project Ursus - the protection of brown bear population of the Brenta, better known as Life Ursus. The intent was to revitalize a population Ursi still present on the Brenta and rated into three parts no longer young, probably of the same sex and strongly related to each other (the last birth brown bear found in the Trentino region dates back to 1989). Were introduced 3 males and 6 females, with the goal of bringing the population count ursi 40 to 50 individuals within 20 to 40 years. Currently it is found to contain about 30 copies. In addition to the increase numbers, the success of the reintroduction area is also confirmed by the expansion: the presence of the species it is no longer limited to the western Trentino but includes areas far from the park. The exploration of the area bodes well for a possible future reunification of all the Alpine populations, although the danger of extinction can not be said to still be averted.

It should however be stressed here today that all the bears in the Alps are of Slovenian origin, so that the project has failed if the objective was to revitalize rather than of the reintroduction. But if a biological point of view the project started later, from the standpoint of social acceptance is perhaps left too soon: it is hard to meet people who live in the valleys who say they are enthusiastic about the project.

What we ask now is whether it made sense to bring an animal fighting in the Alps for centuries because it causes problems. An animal in an environment so demanding now that man-made. An animal that needs wide open spaces and quiet in a region where there is a square kilometer without a home, a busy road, a ski slope. In a region that bases its economy on tourism. In a country quite ignorant when it comes to wildlife.

For more insights about the biology of the brown bear reference to the book by Fabio Osti, who died recently, brown bear, how long in Trentino?

Life on the project site Ursus reference to the Adamello-Brenta (www.pnab.it).