Bears in Italy inbreed more, but are less aggressive

Bye Bear attacks seem to have become a serious problem in Japan – the country has gone so far that army deployment— A new study shows that an Italian bear species has become less aggressive.

Apennine brown bears (Martian bears) have been in close contact with humans for generations. Their small, endangered population exists only in central Italy, and previous research suggests that this population diverged from other European brown bears 2,000–3,000 years ago.. As a result, they have been carefully isolated from other bears since Roman times. Compared to European, North American and Asian brown bears, Apennine brown bears have distinctive facial and head features, a smaller body, and are less aggressive.

“One of the main causes of decline and isolation” Andrea Benazzobiologist from the University of Ferrara, says the statement“there was probably deforestation associated with the spread of agriculture and increased population density in Central Italy.”

Benazzo is the lead author of a study recently published in Molecular biology and evolution. He and his colleagues at the University of Ferrara used genomic analysis to figure out how humans have recently altered the evolution of the Apennine brown bear. Not surprisingly, they found that Apennine brown bears exhibit less genomic diversity and more inbreeding than other brown bears due to their isolation.

“However, it’s more interesting,” he added Julia Fabbrico-author of the study and molecular biologist, “we showed that Apennine brown bears also have selective traits [the] genes associated with decreased aggressiveness.”

Their results suggest that selection for genetic variants associated with behavior (likely caused by humans killing bears with more aggression) contributed to a significantly less aggressive bear population. They also suggest what may seem like a paradox.

“The overall implications of our results are clear,” said study co-author and geneticist. Giorgio Bertorelle“Human-wildlife interactions are often detrimental to species survival, but can also promote the development of traits that reduce conflict,” he added. “This means that even populations that have been greatly and negatively impacted by human activities may contain genetic variants that should not be diluted.”