MAN VERSUS NATURE
Bruno the Bear to Be Stuffed
Bruno, the brown bear that caught Europe's imagination in 2006, will find his final home in a Munich natural history museum.
DPA
Bruno shortly before his death.Bruno the bear, who vexed Alpine farmers and German authorities during his short life of celebrity last year -- and found himself martyred by hunters after wandering into Bavaria -- will be stuffed for posterity by a Munich museum.
The museum, called "Man and Nature," is part of Nymphenburg Palace, a summer castle and popular tourist attraction built by Bavarian royalty in the 1600s. Bavaria's environment minister, Otmar Bernhard, said Bruno would be presented there "with dignity."
"The bear won't be on display as some kind of toy, or as a brutal beast, but will be shown with other animals in a scientifically accurate context," he said.
Bruno's death was controversial, though. The brown bear rose to fame in May and June of 2006 by roaming the Alps from Italy to Austria and feasting on the occasional chicken or sheep. He crossed the German border in late May, where officials said he was the first wild bear seen in Bavaria since 1836. This detail caught the German public's imagination -- especially after the mass-circulation Bild Zeitung newspaper picked up the story -- but failed to appease local families and farmers, who lost not just livestock to the ravening bear but even, in one case, a pet guinea pig.
Bruno stole a total of about 30 sheep. He also overturned trash cans and had a run-in with a car. Bavarian authorities declared him dangerous and called in a Finnish team of professional hunters to tranquilize and trap him. But Bruno remained at large, and authorities finally allowed locals to hunt him. His death on June 26, 2006 made headlines across Europe.
DPA
Bruno shortly before his death.Bruno the bear, who vexed Alpine farmers and German authorities during his short life of celebrity last year -- and found himself martyred by hunters after wandering into Bavaria -- will be stuffed for posterity by a Munich museum.
The museum, called "Man and Nature," is part of Nymphenburg Palace, a summer castle and popular tourist attraction built by Bavarian royalty in the 1600s. Bavaria's environment minister, Otmar Bernhard, said Bruno would be presented there "with dignity."
"The bear won't be on display as some kind of toy, or as a brutal beast, but will be shown with other animals in a scientifically accurate context," he said.
Bruno's death was controversial, though. The brown bear rose to fame in May and June of 2006 by roaming the Alps from Italy to Austria and feasting on the occasional chicken or sheep. He crossed the German border in late May, where officials said he was the first wild bear seen in Bavaria since 1836. This detail caught the German public's imagination -- especially after the mass-circulation Bild Zeitung newspaper picked up the story -- but failed to appease local families and farmers, who lost not just livestock to the ravening bear but even, in one case, a pet guinea pig.
Bruno stole a total of about 30 sheep. He also overturned trash cans and had a run-in with a car. Bavarian authorities declared him dangerous and called in a Finnish team of professional hunters to tranquilize and trap him. But Bruno remained at large, and authorities finally allowed locals to hunt him. His death on June 26, 2006 made headlines across Europe.
The Italian government claimed Bruno as their property and demanded his carcass last March, but Bavarian officials left the body where it was -- in a freezer -- until they arrived at a decision about its fate.
The Man and Nature Museum hopes to have the bear stuffed by January and on display by spring 2008.
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