From: Der Spiegel
<<69936>>
6/30/2006 13:30
06MUNICH397
Consulate Munich
UNCLASSIFIED
VZCZCXRO6095
PP RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHLZ
DE RUEHMZ #0397/01 1811330
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 301330Z JUN 06
FM AMCONSUL MUNICH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3318
INFO RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
TAGS: PGOV, SENV, GM
SUBJECT: BRUNO'S LAST STAND -- FIRST WILD BEAR IN 170 YEARS
Unclas section 01 of 02 munich 000397
Sipdis
Sipdis
E.o. 12958: n/a Tags: pgov, senv, gm Subject: bruno's last stand --
first wild bear in 170 years proves too wild for bavaria
------- summary -------
1. Despite all the attention surrounding the World Cup, EADS' woes and
health care reform, Bavarians and many Germans have been transfixed by a
two-year-old brown bear named "Bruno" that wandered across
international borders into Bavaria, a government minister's agenda, a
hunter's crosshairs, and the hearts of millions. Following Bruno's
government-sanctioned shooting, questions remain over the political
fallout and the future of wild bears in the German Alps. The incident
also offers a snippet of insight into German attitudes toward the
environment. End Summary.
----------------------- a visitor named "bruno" -----------------------
2. The bear, dubbed "Bruno" by the media, began his journey in Italy,
where he was released as part of a program to reintroduce brown bears
from Slovenia in the Alps. After wandering across the border from
Austria, he was first sighted in Bavaria on May 20. As the first wild
bear seen in Germany since 1835, Bruno was initially extended a warm
public welcome by Bavarian Environment Minister Werner Schnappauf --
after all, Bruno could prove a boon for Bavaria's image just as visitors
from around the world arrived for the World Cup.
------------------ the "problem bear" ------------------
3. However, as Bavarian Interior Minister Beckstein has often
emphasized, foreigners are only welcome in Bavaria provided they are
willing to adapt to German culture and traditions. Bruno quickly wore
out his welcome by raiding stables, killing sheep, chickens, and a
child's pet rabbit. The Bavarian government declared Bruno "Ursus non
Grata" and ordered that he be shot or captured. Vexed by Bruno's
unchecked roaming across Bavaria -- he was even seen sitting on the
steps of a police station eating a guinea pig -- Minister-President
Edmund Stoiber took to referring to him as "the Problem Bear."
4. Nevertheless, Bruno appeared to win the battle for the hearts and
minds of the public -- Schnappauf received some 1,300 letters and
drawings from children all over Germany appealing for Bruno to be kept
alive. Following criticism of the edict that Bruno be shot, Schnappauf
gave the animal a stay of execution and, at a cost of over Euro 125,000,
flew in a special trap from Colorado and a team of Finnish bear hunters
with specially trained dogs. After the Finnish hunters failed at their
task, Schnappauf reinstated the shoot-to-kill order effective June 26.
Early in the morning of that same day, Bruno met his demise at the hands
of an (as yet) unnamed hunter. Bruno, stuffed, is to be put on display
at a natural history museum in Munich's Nymphenburg Palace.
----------------------------------- "may his ursine soul rest in peace"
-----------------------------------
5. Almost immediately, criticism of the Bavarian government started
pouring in from across Bavaria and the world. Minister Schnappauf has
received multiple death threats and calls for his resignation. State
prosecutors have received nine legal complaints, several against
Schnappauf, for alleged breaches of hunting and animal protection laws.
Death threats have also been made against the hunter. Schnappauf has
defended himself by saying that had Bruno attacked a human, calls for
his resignation would be better justified. Future bears, he said, would
be welcome in Bavaria, provided they behaved appropriately.
6. The "Bruno" saga has received a disproportional share of press play,
including in the international media. The Munich tabloid "TZ," which has
devoted no less than eleven cover pages to Bruno since May 21,
published an obituary threatening revenge at the voting booth for
Bruno's death, and called on people to send protest letters and e-mails
to Minister-President Stoiber and Minister Schnappauf. Germany's major
tabloid "Bild" even suggested a state funeral for Bruno might be
appropriate. "Spiegel Online's" daily updated ""Bruno
Watch" included an obituary entitled "A
Problem Bear or Bavaria's Problem?" and compared Bruno's death with
that of Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, and Princess
Diana. Mirroring the sentiment of the general public, the piece
concluded: "For indeed Bruno was murdered, shot down in the prime of his
young life, executed
Munich 00000397 002 of 002
in cold blood. We should reflect now on whether we feel happy with what
we have done. We share a collective guilt for Bruno's demise, our
inability to co-exist with nature has yet again prompted us to reach for
the trigger. Bruno is dead and we are all the poorer for it: May his
ursine soul rest in peace."
------- comment -------
7. Bruno has been the media's June flavor of the month. While the
attention lavished on Bruno has taken nearly everyone by surprise, we
expect the criticism leveled at Schnappauf and Stoiber to be relatively
fleeting -- radical animal rights advocates who make death threats
aren't generally considered the CSU's base anyway. Perhaps the greatest
insight from the whole Bruno affair might be that despite the veneer of
"greenness" extolled by German society, modern Germany in fact coexists
uneasily with untamed nature. The contrast between the massive hunt for
the first wild bear seen in Bavaria in over 170 years and the recent
story of a clawless housecat treeing a bear in New Jersey couldn't be
much more stark. True wilderness, even in mountainous Bavaria, hasn't
really existed in Germany for generations -- nature is good, as long as
it is controlled, channeled, and subdued. If the saga of Bavaria's
"Problem Bear" is any indicator, the strategy of reintroducing wild
bears to the Alps, at least the German Alps, may be doomed to failure --
that is, unless the bears are willing to cooperate by not being too
wild.
8. This report has been coordinated with Embassy Berlin.
9. Previous reporting from Munich is available on our SIPRNET website at
www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/munich/ .
Rooney