Overview

• Two 16-month-old male marsican brown bear cubs were found drowned in an artificial snowmaking basin at Colle Rotondo, Scanno, on May 7, 2025.
• The cubs' bodies have been seized for necropsy and toxicological analysis at the Istituto Zooprofilattico di Teramo to confirm the circumstances of their deaths.
• The basin, previously fitted with safety grids in 2021, had its protections destroyed by snow and ice, leaving it unsecure and hazardous for wildlife.
• Animal protection groups and NGOs are demanding urgent infrastructure upgrades across protected and non-protected areas to prevent similar incidents.
• The marsican brown bear population, with only around 60 individuals remaining, faces critical threats, with 80% of deaths since 1970 linked to human causes.