Amarena bear killed, in Pescina (Aq) over 2 thousand people on the streets demanding justice

Response to WWF Italy's appeal to ask for an extraordinary commitment for the protection of its two cubs and greater defense of Italian fauna

ROME - Two thousand people this morning responded to the appeal of WWF Italy and many other animal rights and environmental associations and walked the streets of the municipality of Pescina, in the province of L'Aquila, where the Amarena bear had passed many times.Many people from Abruzzo and beyond - we read in a note from the WWF - marched in a peaceful and respectful manner, but determined to ask for justice for Amarena, an extraordinary commitment to the protection of her two cubs and a greater defense of Italian fauna also through a tightening of penalties for those guilty of these nature crimes.

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The message that comes from the Pescina mobilization is clear: ensuring the conservation of the Marsican brown bear, which today is one of the main naturalistic emergencies of our country, must be a priority. Just as it must be at the top of the agenda to defend Italian biodiversity from the thousand risks and attacks to which misinformation, mismanagement and fake news are exposing it.Even today, the list of good practices and actions indicated by the Action Plan for the Protection of the Marsican Bear (PATOM) and by experts to guarantee a future for this population remains mainly on paper.The dramatic episode that led to the killing of Amarena is a direct consequence on the one hand of a political climate which tends to point to biodiversity as an enemy, drawing a very dangerous target on protected species which are fundamental for our natural capital, and on the other of the limits of actions of conservation and control of the territory even outside protected areas.

“The dramatic act of poaching against the Amarena bear it is also the consequence of a systematic action of misinformation regarding the coexistence between man and large carnivores and more generally between man and nature - states Luciano Di Tizio, President of WWF Italy, from Pescina.In addition to asking for harsher sentences for those who commit crimes against nature, it is necessary to identify the responsibilities of those who, on a daily basis, in sectors of the political, hunting and agricultural world, fuel feelings of fear, justifying or even instigating the use of rifles as the only solution.This is happening once again in Trentino, where President Fugatti has irresponsibly sentenced to death the bear already radio-collared F36, signing a demolition decree against which we have appealed together with the other associations.Today we are in Pescina to remember Amarena, symbol of our nature, but also to react and reiterate the need to protect our extraordinary biodiversity heritage".

“With the killing of Amarena we have lost one of the most prolific females in the recent history of the Marsican bear population and we must do everything possible to at least guarantee the survival in nature of her two cubs, on which media attention is currently very high.The staff of the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park and the Forestry Carabinieri are taking care of monitoring the two puppies.Management choices in similar cases are not simple and the strategy can change from day to day.Bear cubs aged 7-8 months are not yet completely self-sufficient (on average they stay with their mother for around a year and a half), but the behaviors observed in the last few days, their movement to quieter areas and the fact that are feeding themselves autonomously give rise to hope for their possibility of survival in nature.For this reason - the note continues - we share with the Park the choice to leave them free because the objective must be to guarantee them a future in nature, but an exceptional commitment is required from all institutions for careful and intensive monitoring, intervening promptly if necessary. The two Amarena puppies represent one of the most concrete hopes for the conservation of this unique population in the near future.To achieve the goal, the genetic contribution of each individual is fundamental:for this reason, guaranteeing the survival of these cubs in nature would be a success that would also increase the chances of salvation for the entire residual Marsican bear population.