Italy's uneasy coalition partners have found a new, divisive issue to argue about: the fate of a three-year-old brown bear named M49.

The bear, one of 80 living in Italy’s northern Trentino region, frequently raids beehives, attacks livestock and there are fears it could attack humans, too.

The provincial authority, led by League politician Maurizio Fugatti, has repeatedly asked the government for permission to catch it.

M49 is held responsible for 80 per cent of the area's most recent raids on livestock, killing seven donkeys, three sheep and a cow, and causing €31,000 in damages.

But the League’s partner in government – the anti-establishment Five Star Movement – holds a different position and its minister for the environment, Sergio Costa, is not willing to authorise the bear's capture.

Animal rights activists also strongly oppose catching the bear after an incident in 2014, when a female bear named Danzica died due to the strong anaesthetic used to catch her.

Danzica had attacked an Italian cable-car worker while he was out foraging for mushrooms near his home.