Bears Eating Yaks in the Woods

If you've had a bad day, spare a thought for Reinhold Messner, who spent (presumably) much time and money importing what The Guardian described as a "prize yak" from the Himalayas to his Alpine home.

Unfortunately the poor beast did not have long to adjust to its new home before it was, er, mauled to death by a bear.

Brown bears were on the verge of exitinction in the region until a £1m re-introduction programme funded partly by the EU. Ten bears were captured in Slovenia and fitted with tracking devices (which apparently no longer work) and transferred to the Swiss/Italian Alps.

Given that the bears are from Slovenia (Eastern European economic migrants and their presence in Italy was a result of the actions of the EU, its perhaps hardly surprising that the local media was quick to point the finger of blame over the yak incident.

It is surely only a matter of time before the area is "swamped" and local predators will be forced out of their jobs.