Vienna - Moritz, one of the few remaining brown bears in Austria, left visible traces of his existence in Austria's alps, after choosing the wrong kind of dinner. The six-year-old bear who had been sighted repeatedly in a mountainous region in central Austria had gobbled up several portions of a food mix designed for deer, leading to severe indigestion, bear expert Walter Wagner of the country's federal forestries said.
Moritz had thrown up several times, and then took a rest in a hayloft, Wagner's blog said. The hungry bear cracked open feed drums at three locations, eating too much of the muesli-style food mix.
The brown bear male is only one of four bears still being traced in Austria, much to the consternation of animal protection activists. Up to 20 other animals vanished without a trace since bears were re- introduced in 1989, leading to a police investigation into the mystery of the missing bears.
Experts of the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) believe do not believe in a big bear migration and suspect either illegal shootings or a still unknown natural cause of death.
Since setting up a police hotline in early summer, a number of prospective bear watchers reported in, but there had been no significant leads into the disappearing bears.
Moritz has meanwhile recovered and left the area. Possibly the lonely bear moved on to find a suitable partner somewhere else.
