Hunting and Fauna: Umbria, two hunting dogs were attacked by a brown bear in the Valnerina, between Cascia and Norcia, one of the dogs died while the other was seriously injured.
Two hounds engaged in a wild boar hunt were attacked by a large animal, one of them was mauled to death while the other was seriously injured. When asked about it, the Department of Biology confirmed that it is undoubtedly a brown bear ”. The facts date back to last Thursday 12 December during a wild boar hunt as a team in Valnerina, in the area between Avendita di Cascia and Ocricchio di Norcia, when the hunters of the Sant'Uberto di Norcia hunting team found one of the hounds. engaged in the dead activity and, not far away another badly wounded hound. The dog found dead had a large wound on the back, attributable to the bite of a large animal, while the other dog was found in a state of shock, crouched in the vegetation with a deep wound in the lower abdomen. Almost immediately the hypothesis of an attack by a Brown Bear emerged, which became more and more plausible in the course of subsequent investigations; in fact, the experts of the Department of Cellular and Environmental Biology of the University of Perugia, professors Bernardino Ragni and Simone Alemanno, were consulted on the matter, who confirmed with their own note, "a large carnivore with very wide jaws, completely open, has bitten the dog (the dead one) from above, perpendicular to the back, lifted the animal and shaken violently. The dog should have died almost immediately. The powerful offensive action can only have been carried out by a medium-large sized Brown Bear (Ursus arctos). Most likely, in search of an area for wintering but feeling threatened by repeated pursuit, the large carnivore attacked the two dogs in order to defend itself ".
In confirmation of what has already been ascertained, the experts explained that “In recent years the presence of the brown bear has been repeatedly ascertained in Valnerina, both through the discovery of objective finds and on the basis of the testimonies of those who have made occasional observations. In fact, the entire geographic sector has a high ecological suitability for the species ".
At the conclusion of the note, the experts of the Department of Biology suggest a reduction in hunting activities in order to relieve the pressure on the animal as well as an information campaign among the citizens regarding any behavior to be taken in case they were protagonists of a sighting or a real close encounter.
17 December 2013