There had been no brown bears in Germany since 1835. Until Bruno arrived there in 2006. And they go and shoot him. Arseholes. Bruno rocked. He was Italian, young and dynamic. Full of hope, he crossed the Alps some months ago then decided to roam the German-Austrian border. He was the embodyment of a rock star. Optimistic, he just took whatever he wanted, like a little child, and did not care about the rest of the world. He just focused on being happy. Then again, a bear must eat, and Bruno, who did not fear men (poor bear), began killing dozens of sheep, ransacking honey farms (isn´t that sweet) and venturing into chicken stalls. Many people actually saw him. Some even took photographs. But the farmers did not like Bruno, not one bit. He must be finished off, although he never harmed any human (I want to believe he liked us). But he was smarter. Bavarian Prime Minister Edmund Stoiber declared Bruno a “problem bear” and gave hunters permission to shoot to kill. They called it a “search”. It was a hunt all right though. People running around carrying automatic weapons, that is a hunt. What else would you call it? Yet Bruno was smarter.He dodged all the hunters the Bavarian Governement set up against him. Then a group of Finish experts with their hunting dogs and state of the art equipment hopped onto the stage. In vain, Bruno outfoxxed them all. Finally, Bavarian snipers put a bullet into Bruno. They could have tranquilised him and taken him to a zoo or a reserve. Yet they murdered him.
How sad. Nowadays there are brown bears only in Slovenia, about 400 and in mountainous areas like the Pyrenees (Hope we and our French neighbours to the north are not so cruel and silly), the Alps and Central Austria (20 to 30). Brown bears (the only kind in Europe) were plentiful here 300 years ago, but human expansion and hunting dramatically reduced the population. In Germany, the last brown bear was killed 1835. I am not one for animal rights, but this issue is bloody outrageous. He was a sweet big bear with a taste for honey. And they could have caught him alive. There were means to. In fact, you can try to doze Bruno here: Bruno der Bär. Besides Bärenjagd (Bear hunting – but you only doze him), now you´ve also got Brunos Rache (Bruno´s revenge) and Nacht (night version). There´s also a blog “in memoriam” and you can even buy Bruno´s t-shirt online.
They shot him in cold blood and killed him. But Bruno´s revenge has come upon swift wings to the bastards who committed the crime:
- The Bavarian village where he was killed, Rotwand, is an idyllic place were many people go on holyday. Crystal-clear lakes, mountains, clean air, breathtaking scenario. Now they are sufferin a touristic boicott, many people cancelled their holiday in “Scharfschützewand” (Snipers´village). The tourism industry is not to blame, but… Poetic Justice.
- Two days ago, Bruno avenged his death on the nation that killed him. His spirit was inside his Italian countrymen as these trounced the German Selection in the World Cup semifinal. Poetic Justice again.
I´m glad.
