The bear smart community of Pettorano sul Gizio has been a huge success. In 2015 an adult bear was shot dead by one of the local residents. At that time, a group of local stakeholders, including “Let’s Save the Bear” and Rewilding Apennines, joined together with two municipalities to kick off the first bear smart community in Italy (and Europe). Over the years, and after many meetings with local residents and the installation of both preventative and mitigation measures, no attacks from the bears have been recorded, showcasing that the bear smart approach can produce tanglible results in the long term if a coexistence plan is in place.
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