SHARE
COPY LINK

WILDLIFE

Brown bear targeted as Swiss Alps nuisance

A brown bear roaming a mountain region in the canton of Graübunden is being targeted by wildlife officials after outstaying its welcome in residential neighbourhoods.

Brown bear targeted as Swiss Alps nuisance
Photo: Ursina.org

The bear, identified as M13, broke a window and crawled into a shed next to a chalet near Poschiavo, close to the Italian border.

The burly bruin helped himself to potatoes and stale bread before knocking over equipment and making himself at home.

“M13 has already dug up everything,” homeowner Fedele Forer told the Blick newspaper.

“My water pump is gone, he knocked over my generator and the vacuum cleaner is in tatters,” Forer said.

The bear spent 36 hours in the hut, which may be a “death sentence” for the animal, Blick reports.

Once a bear has become habituated to human surroundings he is regarded as a danger.

Bears are a rare sight in Switzerland so when one hangs around for a while it usually doesn’t escape notice.

Once plentiful in the country, they were hunted to extinction.

But brown bears began making a comeback in 2005 when one wandered over the border from Italy, where they were reintroduced in a Trentino nature park.

Since then a handful have been observed and tracked by wildlife officials.

In April 2008, a bear identified as JJ3 was shot in Graubünden after becoming a danger to humans.

On Friday afternoon, federal, cantonal and Poschiavo officials are meeting to decide whether M13 will meet the same fate.

Other options are to tranquilize the animal and move it to another location.

The bear has been reported causing problems since last spring, when it was anesthetised and tagged with a tracking transmitter after preying on a goat.

In September it was caught eating sheep.

Last month, alarm bells rang when M13 helped himself to honey at an aviary in a Poschiavo school, causing many parents to fear for the safety of their children.

 “He’s not a teddy bear but a dangerous predator,” teacher Franco Compagnoni was quoted as telling the press at the time.

Officials ordered the erection of an electric fence around the school property.

A few weeks later the bear dined on sheep again.

Normally at this time of year, bears are beginning to make preparations for winter hibernation.

M13 may be denied that luxury.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

ENVIRONMENT

Spain’s Alicante aims to limit hiking and ban outdoor sports in iconic nature spots

Environmental authorities in the Spanish region of Valencia want to limit hiking and ban rockclimbing and canyoning in popular retreats in Alicante, Valencia and Castellón provinces to preserve these natural habitats and their local species.

Hiking in Valencia might be banned.
Barranc de l'Infern in Alicante province. Photo: Diana TV/Flickr

The Valencian region’s Climate Emergency Department is planning to establish several Special Conservation Zones in popular natural spots in the eastern region, where climbing and canyoning will be prohibited and hiking will be limited.

If the new rule comes into force, it will affect a large portion of the province of Alicante, including popular retreats in nature such as the Barranc de l’Infern river and its hiking route, Puigcampana and Ponoig, one of the best-known climbing spots in the region.

So far, the project is just a proposal, but it has already angered mountain-sport lovers and businesses throughout the region. 

Canyoning and climbing are considered “incompatible” practices with the preservation of natural habitats, according to the first draft of the new decree.

As well as banning these two popular sports, the new rule proposes that hiking in groups of more than 30 people will have to undergo prior evaluation.

Hiking in Puigcampana, Valencia. Image: NH53 / Flickr

The objective of the Department of Climatic Emergency is to extend this new rule and the creation of the ZECs to all the natural spaces included in the Natura 2000 Network within the Valencian Community.

The regulations of the European Union on these sites imply that they must guarantee the preservation of species of fauna and flora. 

For example, in the Special Conservation Zone (known as a ZEC) de la Marina, the decree states that species such as otter, river crab and Cobitis paludica fish will be protected, while the mountains in the centre of Alicante, it’s Bonelli’s eagle, the trumpeter bullfinch and the eagle owl, which must be protected. 

However, according to sources of Las Provincias news site, the European legislation does not prohibit climbing, canyoning and hiking from being carried out within them.

The new proposal has taken many groups by surprise as they were not told of the new proposal beforehand, and are unaware of what the economic and social implications will be.

The President of the Federation of Sports in the Mountains and Climbing in the Community (Muntanya i Escalada de la Comunitat) Carlos Ferrís, pointed out that “the preservation of the environment does not have to be incompatible with these sports” and said that the limitations are not justified by any scientific report.

Hiking in Ponoig, Valencia. Image: Lisa Risager / Flickr

Pedro Carrasco, manager of CV Activa, an association that brings together companies who target active tourism agreed, when he told Las Provincias: “They would have to do a detailed study of each and every place to assess the conditions. It cannot be based on intuition alone”.

These rural tourism businesses do however agree that there can be some limitations on the practice of these sports, but that they shouldn’t be prohibited year round.

READ ALSO: REVEALED: The most picturesque day trips in Spain’s Alicante province

SHOW COMMENTS