After the bear attack: the German Foreign Office checks travel warnings for South Tyrol

After the fatal bear attack in Trentino, the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin is checking whether it is safe to travel to South Tyrol for citizens of the Federal Republic of Germany.

BOLZANO – The German honorary consul in Bolzano, lawyer Gerhard Brandstätter, told RAI TV that he had received a similar request from Berlin and subsequently sent the information about the incidents to the German consulate in Milan. He also established contacts between the German authorities and the state authorities in South Tyrol. In April, in the neighboring province of Trentino, South Tyrol, a female bear fatally attacked a runner.

According to Brandstätter, worried vacationers asked the consulate if the trip to South Tyrol was still safe because of the bear problem. This is also due to false reports that there were 100 bears in South Tyrol, while only three bears were found in the predominantly German northern Italian province. From time to time, bears from neighboring Trentino wandered across South Tyrol.

Warning against travel to South Tyrol after deadly bear attack: “Bears pose no danger to the population”

The state of South Tyrol told the South Tyrolean daily on Friday: “The three bears are constantly monitored and monitored by the Forest Service. These bears are not problem animals and therefore do not pose an increased risk to the population.” According to stol.it, the state is trying to prevent an “overreaction” from Berlin, according to responsible state councilor Arnold Schuler: “I can’t imagine a travel warning will be issued.” .

In any case, there has not been a wave of cancellations in South Tyrol because of the bears, says South Tyrol’s head of tourism Hansi Pichler in the portal. But he warns: “The bear is a problem in tourism. We have to find solutions because, in the long term, carnivores are a problem for the destination.”

Rubriklistenbild: © Massimo Papi