Italy is morning the death of a mischievous mountain bear that made global headlines years ago when it broke into bakery and feasted on biscuits.
The Marsican brown bear, which had been named Juan Carrito, was killed after it was hit by a car near the town of Castel di Sangro in central Italy Monday night, the national park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise posted on Instagram.
“There are no words to express our sadness at what has happened,” the park posted Tuesday. “Juan Carrito was a troubled bear but at the Park we did everything… to give him a chance and let him stay free.”
The person who struck the bear with their car was not hurt, park officials wrote.
The bear’s name came in part from the village of Carrito in Abruzzo where local media reported he was first spotted crossing a road, Reuters reported. Carrito is also a Spanish word, hence the first name Juan.
Before the accident, he had been spotted over the weekend in a ski resort, the outlet reported.
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The 150-kg bear was captured last year and taken to a more remote region after his bakery break-in but the 4-year-old liked brown bear to return to his old haunts in search of food, the outlet reported.
Marsican bears, a cousin of North America’s grizzly bear, are rare in Italy and only about five dozen are left in in the country.
“Tonight we’re all a little poorer because a family member has left,” said the president of the park, Giovanni Cannata.
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Natalie Neysa Alund covers trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.
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