May 2008
Brown Bear Bruno
In summer 2006—long before
the polar bear hype in Berlin and
Nuremberg—a brown bear became the
center of media attention for several weeks. While zoo visitors now see polar bears as small, cute and domesticated, Bruno’s wanderings through Tyrol and Bavaria were followed with awe and a bit of unease. Some saw Bruno as a beautiful wild creature, a nostalgic emblem of natural beauty. On the other hand, the bear was
undeniably mischievous and dangerous. He plundered a whole bee stock in Kochel, and killed sheep near
Garmisch-Partenkirchen. He also seemed to have become desensitized to humans, and succeeded in escaping professional Finnish bear hunters several times. As other hunters tracked Bruno like a fugitive, the Bavarian government issued a decree to have him shot. When Bruno died of gunshot wounds on June 26, all of Bavaria seemed to erupt in an outcry of shock and outrage.
Now, the
Museum für Mensch und Natur honors his popular legacy with an entire show room devoted to the creature. Here, the stuffed animal with honey around its mouth is portrayed next to a bee stock symbolizing the Kochel incident. This portrayal aims at a realistic evaluation of the dangers inherent in the animal without condemning it as a bloodthirsty monster. The title of the exhibition, “Biodiversity, Nature Conservation, Wild Animal Management,” also intends to deflect an emotional approach and inspire an objective discussion on dealing with wild animals on free hunting-ground. Such considerations are especially prescient as ten young brown bears are under way at present in Trentino. Most likely, they will soon find their territory too small and once the bears are fully grown in 2009, Bavaria may be home to some very famous and very dangerous bears once again. <<<
