Bear that killed Italian jogger to be relocated to Germany

The relocation to a German sanctuary of a female brown bear that killed a jogger in the Italian Alps last year has been postponed until spring 2025.

The bear, known as JJ4 or Gaia, was set to be transferred to a high-security enclosure at the Alternative Wolf and Bear Park in Germany's Black Forest in the south-west of the country this year. However, weather-related construction delays have pushed back the move, according to park officials.

The €1 million enclosure, funded through donations, has faced significant setbacks due to heavy rainfall in the mountainous, wooded terrain, according to the park's spokesman.

The bear attacked and killed a man jogging on a popular mountain path in the northern Italian region of Trentino-Alto Adige in April 2023, shocking the nation and sparking a debate about her fate.

The animal was captured alive and taken to an enclosure near the city of Trento. Regional president Maurizio Fugatti ordered Gaia to be killed, but courts stopped the decree after petitions by animal rights activists, and the case has wended its way through the judicial system.

The bear park in the small German town of Bad Rippoldsau-Schapbach had already agreed to take in Gaia some time ago. However, the park's staff expressed concerns about the well-being of the wild-born bear in the park, stating that life in captivity would be "hell" for her.

The spokesman explained that unlike bears rescued from circuses or private ownership, Gaia had always lived in the wild and her adjustment to captivity would be extremely difficult.

The park plans to keep her shielded from visitors and the bear will initially live alone, the spokesman said. Depending on how well the bear adapts to her new environment, the park may later allow her to interact with other bears, though officials remain cautious.

Jurka, Gaia's mother, has been housed at the animal sanctuary since 2010.