Opinions are divided on the Marsican brown bears living close to people in Italy, a new project aims to change that
Less than two hours’ drive from Rome, bears still roam the woods. Known as the Marsican (or Apennine) brown bear, this subspecies of the European brown bear is critically endangered – only 70 currently remain in the wild. Their continued existence is largely threatened by their close proximity to humans; they’re often killed in vehicle collisions or die from poisoned bait.
Despite local authorities’ conservation attempts, not everyone is happy to have the bears around. For this reason, Paula Mayer, a researcher at ETH Zurich, has mapped the coexistence of humans and bears in the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park region. ‘This project is an attempt to take a rational look at the landscape and figure out where and under what circumstances humans and large carnivores successfully coexist and where they don’t,’ she says.
Mayer has created maps for a total of 21 municipalities located in and around the national park. She says she was surprised to discover that in some cases, municipalities just a few kilometres apart often had different opinions about the bears. She believes that the cause is probably the spread of false information, as well as locals’ reliance on their own agricultural products and whether they earn their living from tourism.
‘Tourism-reliant municipalities even stand to benefit from the bears, since wildlife tourism is booming in Abruzzo National Park,’ she adds. The maps will help to identify areas and measures that should be prioritised to promote human–bear coexistence, such as investments to make the local waste disposal, fruit crops and livestock bear-proof.
