BEAR-LY SURVIVED

Killer Bear Duo Spared the Death Penalty After Twin Maulings

A top court in Rome ruled that the euthanizing the bears would be “disproportionate and inconsistent with supranational and national rules.”

These two beasts bear-ly survived death row. A pair of killer brown bears in northern Italy escaped an order to have them both euthanized on Friday, with a top court in Rome calling the proposed slaughter “disproportionate and inconsistent with supranational and national rules.” One of the bears, a 17-year-old female called JJ4, mauled jogger Andrea Papi, 26, to death in the Alps and was captured soon after. Weeks before, the other bear, MJ5, attacked a 39-year-old hiker in the same area, but has been roaming free ever since. Animal rights activists took up the bears’ case in the face of an order for the animals’ deaths, arguing to save the protected species. The case will now go back to a local court for a final appeal by the end of the year, BBC reported.