Juan Carrito, the Marsican bear who trusted humans, has died

Juan Carrito, the bear who had become a star, despite himself, died when he was hit.The condolences are wasted, but what will be done in concrete terms to protect wildlife?

• Juan Carrito, a Marsican bear who became famous in the media, died when hit by a car.
• The Park workers had tried in vain to protect him from his innate confidence towards human beings.
• Carrito was the son of Amarena, a bear who had entertained tourists in the area in recent years.

Juan Carrito, is the Marsican bear that has become the darling of the towns that dot the National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise.The plantigrade was hit while wandering on the state road 17, near Roccaraso, one of the countries where he was a regular guest.The body was taken outsideThe Zooprophylactic Institute of Isernia for the autopsy, but it seems that the dynamics of the accident are established.The bear suddenly emerged from a curve and faced the turning car.The driver was unable to brake and Juan Carrito was thrown against the guard rail and was crushed by the sheets of metal.

The death of the bear was largely predictable, despite the Park workers having tried with every means to protect it and defend it from the curiosity and trust it showed towards our species.So much so that Carrito had even become the testimonial of a honey producing company in the area, theBeekeeping Colle Salera.In fact, the bear had often been caught with its "paws in honey" and the founders of the company had thought of making a virtue out of "necessity" by riding the media resonance of Juan Carrito and transforming his natural confidence into an economic opportunity.

Juan Carrito, a largely predictable death

Luciano Sammarone, the director of the administrative structure of National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise he is dismayed.He is deeply saddened by the death of the young bear who had now become a friendly and very nice presence in the area.Unfortunately, all attempts to protect the bear Amarena's son from his own exuberance were in vain.“The accident occurred in an area where fences had not yet been built.And all our attempts to keep the bear away from inhabited territories, confining it to the natural territories of the park, were in vain", Sammarone explained. But there is a small consolation, Carrito died as a free bear, despite having done all kinds of things, and he certainly lived better than M49 and other bears confined in concentration camps created by man to dampen their nature and species characteristics.

Juan Carrito and the story of the betrayed bears

It is a fact that the situation of wildlife in Italy has been compromised for some time. Explains Ermanno Giudici, writer and blogger:“The death of Juan Carrito has rekindled old and new controversies targeting the Park, in fact, many have ruled that it was not known how to protect it.The reality for those who know it is very different and starts from afar:by a cub son of a bear made confident, Black cherry, which was besieged by tourists throughout the summer of 2020, despite the commitment of the Park which had deployed all available forces, with the help of the forestry police, to ease the pressure on the bear family.Exceptionally all the cubs survived but only one – nicknamed Juan Carrito, after the town of Carrito – he had confident behavior.

The plantigrade was made confident, so much so that he walked calmly through the streets of Roccaraso, by those who thought it was a good idea to attract him with food, which however he found thanks to poor waste management done by the municipal administration.Now that he has died, it is good to ask ourselves about the causes - which range from the dangerousness of our roads to bad human behavior - and hope that the episode, which affected and saddened so many people, is the starting point for implementing proposals and behaviors that can protect a heritage as important as that of the Marsican bear".

He echoes him, with very harsh words that express the indignation that we all feel for what happened, the biologist Mauro Belardi, president of the Eliante cooperative:“The death of Juan Carrito was decided some time ago, when against his will he stopped being a bear and became a web star.That he has survived this far is frankly a miracle.Its management has effectively been taken away from the experts and handed over to public opinion.They illegally and stupidly fed him, pushing him among other things not to hibernate.When he entered the shops people laughed and made videos instead of worrying.And the closer a bear wanders to towns, the more likely it is to be hit.After Gem, After Black cherry, After Juan Carrito we are waiting for the next victim of the media circus because everything will certainly repeat itself and this country needs its toy bear to love and make people hate, some controversies, some improvised experts.And it's simply the show that must go on… Poor beast, he didn't ask anyone to become a symbol!”.We don't think there is anything else to add.