![]() ![]() “Amarena became a phenomenon and was confident,” said Antonucci. One of the first villages Amarena and her cubs appeared in was Carrito, hence the nickname. Such was the rarity of the event – on average, female Marsicans give birth to between one and three cubs – that the family attracted much attention. One explanation for Carrito’s sociability is his upbringing: he was one of four cubs born to a bear called Amarena. “They do have long claws and teeth that are bigger than those of a wolf,” said Antonio Antonucci, a wildlife biologist at Majella national park.īears that gravitate towards towns tend to be females with cubs, or young bears, although experts struggle to explain their motives, as there is an abundance of nutritious food in their natural environment. The bears are not known to be aggressive, but authorities are erring on the side of caution. Some bears have died after unwittingly eating poison laid down by truffle hunters intended for their rivals’ dogs. The Marsican bear population across the area has dwindled to an estimated 65 over the past two decades, thought to be the result of illegal hunting or the animals being hit by vehicles. His time at Palena will be temporary as we try to adapt him to his natural environment.” “We’ve seen him eating from bins, also eating plastic. “Bears are often seen in inhabited areas but Carrito was becoming problematic, he was completely linked to the urban life of the town,” said Luciano Di Martino, a biologist and director of Majella national park. His capture has pitted residents in Roccaraso – with some saying he should be left to roam free – against authorities, who said it was necessary to remove him to prevent him causing harm, and for his own wellbeing. It was his growing, albeit unusual, affinity towards dogs that led rangers to take more drastic action, and in early March, Carrito was lured by apples into a “tube trap” – a device commonly used to capture bears – tranquillised and taken to an animal reserve 20km away in Palena, where he is monitored while being prepared to re-enter the wild. That, however, did not keep him away – Carrito, who is fitted with a radio collar, was soon back in Roccaraso, where he was filmed in the snow shrugging off a dog biting and barking around him. Valentini said the bear would often hang around outside the bakery, but he took the biscuit with the break-in.Ī few days after the break-in, forest rangers tranquillised the bear, flying it by helicopter to a remote area of wilderness in Majella national park. On one occasion he was spotted drinking from a fountain and, as skiers flocked to the town this winter, Carrito became increasingly bold, once standing on his hind legs as the curious visitors took photos. He would often stay overnight, sleeping among pine trees at the entrance to the town of about 1,500 inhabitants, before going in search of food, rummaging through bins and dining off leftover pizza and sandwiches. The two-year-old Marsican – a critically endangered subspecies of the brown bear living in the Apennine mountains that straddle the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise regions – was practically a resident, as well as a star attraction for tourists, until his recent controversial capture. It wasn’t the first time Carrito had brazenly ventured into Roccaraso. “I had baked so many, some were on the table, the rest were in the oven … the doors were slightly open and he managed to pull out all the trays and eat the biscuits.” “He must have smelled them wafting down the street,” Valentini said. Photograph: Chris Warde-Jones/The Guardian A Marsican bear in the woods near Palena.
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