How a fatal bear attack led an Italian comune to rally against rewilding

Brown bears, introduced into Trentino province 20 years ago, have begun to clash with the local human population

Franca Gherardini used to cherish the sublime views from her home in Caldes, a village surrounded by forests on the slopes of the Brenta Dolomites in northern Italy’s Trentino province.

But now she tries to shut out the scene as much as possible, rolling down the window canopy in the morning to avoid looking towards the area where her son, Andrea Papi, 26, was killed by a bear.