PHOTO | The bear hunting for honey in the hives is the second time in a few days in Belluno
This time the bear also left a paw on the frame of one of the hives it destroyed: it's the second time in a few days. Experts: "It's a passing animal"
VENICE – Another bear passage in the province of Belluno. After Fornesighe and Solagnot (in Val di Zoldo), where in the night between 15 and 16 May a bear had destroyed an entire apiary, eating around 80 kilograms of honey, a plantigrade has once again made itself felt, this time in Faè (Longarone): there, on the night between Tuesday 21st and Wednesday 22nd May, it once again struck an apiary, destroying four hives. And this time he also left visible signs of his passage, given that the imprint of a paw on a frame, approximately 10 centimeters wide, remained imprinted on a frame of the apiary. The provincial police, who are analyzing the predations, hypothesize that it isa young animal, in all likelihood the same one that has been moving in the Zoldano mountains for a week.
AN ANIMAL ‘IN DISPERSION’, HERE’S WHAT IT’S LOOKING FOR
The wildlife experts of the Provincial Police explain thatthe bear in question seems to have acquired the habit of visiting the apiariesthat it finds in the area, to eat larvae, sheets of wax, bees and the quantities of honey present (mostly scarce at this time of year). It may be that it still remains in the territory, depending on the availability of food, or that it abandons it, given that it is a passing animal, “scattering”. Provincial Police officers will continue to monitor the bear’s passages, including by installing camera traps. Beekeepers are invited to check their hives daily, even those located near roads and homes, to prevent new predation.
THE FACTS OF VAL DI ZOLDO
In the previous case of ‘assault’ on the hives, the bear had “destroyed an entire apiary, eating a quantity of honey, honeycombs and sheets of wax, quantifiable at around 80 kilograms. The surviving bee nuclei were lost in due to bad weather. The damage to the beekeeper is enormous.” The provincial police, who intervened, had found footprints and scratches on the frames of the apiary, “attributable to a bear. However, no biological material was found. The officers positioned some camera traps both in the area of the incursion and in the surrounding area, to monitor any other movements”.
THE SECOND TIME AT LONGARONE
Last night, however, the bear was in Faè (Longarone) and hit an apiary again, destroying four hives. The proof is the paw that was left imprinted on a frame of the apiary, 10 centimeters wide
A BEAR PHOTOGRAPHED IN CADORE BETWEEN ON 8 AND 9 MAY
It is however “an animal of passage: usually – say the experts of the provincial police – they are dispersing males who go in search of new territories; it could be a plantigrade from the Trentino population or Slovenian”. The passage of bears in the Belluno area is nothing new: on the night between 8 and 9 May a camera trap in Casera Razzo (Vigo di Cadore) had immortalized a specimen in transit. In light of the recent incursion in Val di Zoldo, the Provincial Police recommends beekeepers “to check the apiaries daily, especially those located in areas far from homes during these flowering days”.
