A vast majority of Germans regret that the southern state of Bavaria allowed the first wild bear seen there in 170 years to be killed, a poll showed on Wednesday, while newspapers and television reports questioned whether "Bruno" actually needed to die.
Top-selling Bild newspaper on Wednesday joined the chorus decrying his death, printing an entire broadsheet picture of Bruno with the banner "farewell." On Tuesday, the paper devoted half of its front page to the shooting of Bruno, and an entire inside page with the "last photo of the bear" with gun sights drawn in around him next to a hand-drawn plea from a schoolchild: "Let The Bear Live!"
Meanwhile, Munich prosecutors said they had received a flood of requests that criminal charges be brought against those responsible for the decision to allow Bruno to be killed.
PHOTO: EPA
Markus Soeder, secretary-general of Bavaria's governing Christian Social Union party, told the Muenchner Abendzeitung newspaper that it was the right decision, though an "especially difficult" one to make.
"In the end, security interests rightfully prevailed," Soeder said. "What would have happened if the bear had attacked a child?"
On the Web site of leading weekly Der Spiegel there was a flowery obituary for the two-year-old brown bear, who was killed by hunters authorized by the Bavarian government on Monday after all attempts to capture him over the last month failed.
Bruno was part of a project to reintroduce bears in northern Italy, but wandered away into Austria and Germany where he killed sheep and other livestock. Though he was the first wild bear to be seen in Germany since 1835, both Bavaria and the Austrian state of Tyrol gave hunters permission to kill him, saying he posed a danger to humans. Italian authorities have questioned the move, saying they offered to capture and repatriate the bear.
"Bruno, at the tender age of just two, made a decision: He wanted to see the world," Spiegel wrote. "He would travel, taste new pastures and explore yonder valley. How many among Europe's docile, apathetic youth could boast such admirable qualities today?"
But, instead, the magazine said: "Bruno was murdered, shot down in the prime of his young life, executed in cold blood. We should reflect now on whether we feel happy with what we have done. We share a collective guilt for Bruno's demise, our inability to coexist with nature has yet again prompted us to reach for the trigger."
A poll by the Forsa institute for Germany's N-TV news station found that 70 percent of Germans disagreed with Bruno's shooting, finding it regrettable. Twenty four percent said they were relieved that there was not more bear threat.
Even in Bavaria, 68 percent said they regretted Bruno's death while only 26 percent said they were relieved. The poll surveyed 1,009 Germans.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese