Environmental groups have accused a prince from Liechtenstein’s royal family of shooting and killing the largest bear in Romania, in contravention of a ban on the trophy hunting of large carnivores.
The Romanian NGO Agent Green and the Austrian NGO VGT alleged in a statement that the bear, who was called Arthur, was shot in March in a protected area of the Carpathian Mountains by Prince Emanuel von und zu Liechtenstein.
According to the NGOs, the prince, who is a resident of Riegersburg in Austria, had been given special approval by the Romanian environment ministry to shoot a female bear that had been causing damage to farms in Ojdula.
“But in reality, the prince did not kill the problem bear, but a male that lived deep in the woods and had never come close to localities,” the NGOs claim. “The bear named Arthur has been observed for many years by the Agent Green ranger in the area and was known as a wild specimen not accustomed to the man’s presence and the food sources he…