The “Life Ursus Project”, funded by the EU, started in 1999, with the goal of bringing bears back into the Alps in the north of Italy. In the past century, hunting had caused the extinction of Brown Bears in their own habitat. 9 individuals (3 males and 6 females, aged 3 to 6 years) were therefore kidnapped from Slovenian forests, chosen purposefully to recreate a population comprising 40 to 50 individuals within 20 to 40 years.