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Brown Bear Sighting

Bruno's Half-Brother Spotted Close to German Border

By David Crossland

The last bear to venture into Germany, Bruno, was shot and killed after a sheep-killing rampage that made him a media star. Now a bear thought to be his half-brother has been spotted in Austria near the German border, but he is far better behaved, experts say.

A brown bear believed to be the half-brother of the legendary Bruno has been spotted wandering in the Alps dangerously close to the German border, reawakening painful memories of the tragic fate that befell Bruno, the last bear to venture into Germany.

Bruno, who had been classified by authorities in the southern German state of Bavaria as a "problem bear," was shot dead in July 2006 after a seven-week rampage during which he killed several dozen lambs, stole honey from beehives, squashed a guinea pig and gained a worldwide following.

But the bear sighted last Friday by a goat herd in the Stubaital region of Austria, just 35 kilometers from the border with Germany, is thought to be "MJ4", a three-and-a-half year old male known to authorities as being inconspicuous, timid, and generally well-behaved.

"A bear was spotted in the Stubaital last Friday and ran off, just like bears are supposed to. We don't know what direction he was going in," Manfred Wölfl, the Bavarian government's commissioner on bears, told SPIEGEL ONLINE.

Wölfl said bear experts weren't certain about his identity but that the location of the sighting suggested it could be MJ4, who unlike Bruno stays away from humans. MJ4 hails from northen Italy and wandered from there into Switzerland where he hibernated last winter before walking to Austria.

Bruno, the first bear sighted in the Bavarian Alps in 170 years, would stroll through Alpine villages and forage for food in dustbins, a habit that prompted the Bavarian government to conclude that he posed a danger to humans. It finally gave permission for him to be shot dead after repeated attempts to catch him alive failed.

"The bear that has now been spotted didn't kill any sheep or goats," said Wölfl. "It was seen in the snow by a goatherd who was looking for his goats on a mountain meadow 1,600 meters up. This bear is shy and doesn't come into villages to look for food."

Bavaria Better Prepared for Bears Now

The drama surrounding Bruno was a setback to efforts to resettle brown bears in the Alps, and Wölfl said he was concerned about the reaction in Bavaria if MJ4 strolls into Germany.

"I'm worried that the bear won't be left alone even if he behaves inconspicuously. People will have to learn how to live with bears."

But he said Bavaria was now better prepared to cope with a roaming bear than in the traumatic weeks of 2006, when Bruno evaded capture for weeks even though the region's government had hired a crack team of experts to track him down with specially trained Karelian hunting dogs.

"We have developed a management plan, 'Brown Bear in Bavaria,' together with the hunting, forestry and agriculture sectors as well as environmental groups. This plan was devised in April 2007 and is being implemented bit by bit," said Wölfl.

He said a government-sponsored exhibition outlining the habits of brown bears had been travelling around villages in Upper Bavaria, a fund had been set up to compensate farmers for any livestock killed by bears, and a network of experts had been put in place to respond to any signs of bear activity.

"Some 40,000 people have visited the exhibition where they learn that bears aren't cuddly toys and that humans also have to deal with potential conflict situations," said Wölfl.

He said Austria had eight to 10 bears including Moritz, who has lived peacefully for the last four years in the Salzkammergut region of Austria, just 40 to 60 kilometers from the German border.

Bruno attracted international media coverage in his rampage during which he at one point walked into a village and sat down on the steps of the local police station while his pursuers were struggling up a mountain miles away.

When he was finally caught and shot dead by hunters, the Bavarian environment ministry received death threats. Bruno was stuffed and is on show in a Munich museum, a fate experts hope won't befall "MJ4".