In Italy, a man foraging for mushrooms was attacked when he happened upon a mother bear and her cubs. Part of a reintroduction and conservation program in Italy's northern Dolomites, the bear, named Daniza, was ordered to be captured and possibly killed. This has sparked social media outrage, prompting those on twitter to hashtag #iostocondanzia (I'm with Danzia).

The outrage stems from a revelation that when mauling victim Daniele Maturi happened upon the bear, he did not immediately leave, but rather hid behind a tree to watch him. It is said the bear only charged when it spotted him watching from behind a tree (like a predator would do, thus provoking the bear).

One Italian columnist, Anna Lebedeva, shared her opinion on the situation, "I grew up in Siberia, the land of brown bears, and even as a child I knew that you do not mess with those giants. There it would never occur to a person who is accustomed to sharing the woods with bears to hide behind a tree and watch a female with two cubs from a distance of 30 meters."

Environmentalists and conversationalists are concerned over the fact that Danzia is still nursing her cubs.

However, not all are of that opinion. The wounded forager described the bear as crazy, telling a local news network, "She chased me. She took me with one paw on my back; she made a hole in my back. I was on the ground and then she jumped on top of me - It only needs to happen once. With me it went OK. If it had been a woman or someone else - I don't know if it would have been OK because it's really brutal."

Some who live in the Dolomite mountain range have lost livestock to bears, and find their reintroduction has been mismanaged. Others advocate that once a wild animal turns and attacks a human, it must be killed.

Bear in pose image via Shutterstock.

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