For seven weeks the two-year-old had led an idyllic existence, swimming in lakes, eating honey and killing the odd sheep. But the adventures of Germany's most famous fugitive -- Bruno the Bear -- came to an abrupt end early on Monday morning when a group of Bavarian hunters shot him dead.
Bruno stayed a step ahead of his pursuers for weeks, becoming a sort of fugitive hero -- his legend growing as his forays into populated areas became more brazen. Last week, he sauntered into a lakeside resort and sat down in front of the police station, before vanishing.
Media hype had reached a frenzy over the weekend after officials gave the go-ahead for the bear to be shot. Some newspaper editorials had pleaded for clemency.
Bruno was the first wild bear to be sighted in Germany since 1835. Part of an Italian program to reintroduce bears to the Alps, Bruno had roamed the Alpine border region between Germany and Austria since last month.
The 100kg animal had been blamed for killing dozens of sheep and raiding poultry and rabbit hutches along with beehives.
Officials confirmed that Bruno had been killed at 4:50am near a lake close to the town of Zell.
"It's not that we don't welcome bears in Bavaria. It's just that this one wasn't behaving properly," said Otmar Bernhard, an official with Bavaria's environment ministry. "The bear kept wandering into populated areas. Its death was regrettable. But we didn't have much choice."
However, the killing has raised constitutional issues in Germany -- the only country on Earth where the rights of animals are enshrined in the nation's Constitution.
The hunters who shot the bear have expressed fears of reprisals from radical animal-rights activists; their names have not been released.
Animal-rights activists have threatened to file legal challenges.
"This is the stupidest thing that could have happened," said Hubert Weinzierl, president of the German Naturschutzring, an animal-rights group. "The killers of Bruno have not heard the end of this and we will pursue legal avenues."
"In other countries, humans and bears coexist in relative harmony. But only in Germany do the authorities resort to liquidation. How tragically typical," he said.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
US PUBLICATION: The results indicated a change in attitude after a 2023 survey showed 55 percent supported full-scale war to achieve unification, the report said More than half of Chinese were against the use of force to unify with Taiwan under any circumstances, a survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University found. The survey results, which were released on Wednesday in a report titled “Sovereignty, Security, & US-China Relations: Chinese Public Opinion,” showed that 55.1 percent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed that “the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances,” while 24.5 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagreed with the statement. The results indicated a change in attitude after a survey published in “Assessing Public Support for (Non)Peaceful Unification
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
The China Coast Guard has seized control of a disputed reef near a major Philippine military outpost in the South China Sea, Beijing’s state media said, adding to longstanding territorial tensions with Manila. Beijing claims sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea and has waved away competing assertions from other countries as well as an international ruling that its position has no legal basis. China and the Philippines have engaged in months of confrontations in the contested waters, and Manila is taking part in sweeping joint military drills with the US which Beijing has slammed as destabilizing. The Chinese coast guard
RSS