Animal rights groups in Italy are calling on authorities to lift a death sentence on a brown bear that attacked a father and son last week on a hiking trail in the northern region of Trentino.
CNN reports 59 year old Fabio Misseroni and his 28 year old son Christian Misseroni were hiking when they say the bear leaped onto their path.
The bear bit Christian’s leg before his father jumped on the animal's back so he could escape.
The bear then bit and swiped at the older man, breaking his leg in three places.
Christian jumped up and down and clapped his hands to distract the bear from his father before the animal ran off into the woods.
Italy's National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research regulations call for bears that attack humans to be euthanized.
After the attack, Trentino governor Maurizio Fugatti signed a cull order allowing for the capture and kill of the bear, which authorities are trying to identify through DNA garnered from saliva and fur left in the claw and bite wounds and on the father's and son's clothing.
[Source: CNN]
