Italy's forestry corps presented their plans to bring the Marsican bear back from the brink of extinction on Tuesday.
The Marsican (Ursus arctos marsicanus) is a subspecies of the brown bear.
It lives exclusively in the central ½ûÂþÌìÌà Apennine mountains and, according to forestry corps's figures released Tuesday, only 45-50 remain in the wild.
"We have to take that number up to 100 at least to be sure we don't lose them," said Agriculture Ministry Undersecretary Stefano Boco at the forestry corps presentation.
Marsican bears are easily disturbed by noise so a key part of the corps' programme is a ban on motor vehicles travelling along 150km of track inside their territory.
The guards are also boosting the variety of plant species in the Abruzzo forests the bears live in to make sure they have enough food all year around.
This part of the project involves planting 20 different species of fruit tree and bush in the 1,600-square-kilometre area the Marsican bear roams around.
The authorities are also campaigning to raise local people's awareness of the need to respect the bears' environment.
"The forestry corps project to protect the Marsican bear is extraordinary, but it can only work if local people understand that this animal needs a quiet habitat," explained Boco.
"Human activity has to be compatible with the level of tranquillity the bears need, as this is the last domain of a species of the most important mammal omnivore".
The programme targets hunters too.
The forest guards say Marsicans are often shot by hunters who mistake them for wild boar, even though the bears are much larger.
They stress that the Marsican poses little threat to humans and their pets.
"Bears hate confusion, they seek tranquillity and if they see a human, they flee," explained forestry corps officer Giovanni Potena.
"The only danger is if they are badly disturbed, in which case they react, just like everyone".
The Marsican's range is concentrated in Abruzzo, but the bear can also sometimes be seen in parts of Lazio and Umbria.
It is one of the smaller brown bears.
Male specimens usually weigh 95-130 kilos and are 1.8-1.9 metres tall when standing on their hind legs.
The ½ûÂþÌìÌà authorities are also carrying out conservation projects to protect the nation's population of European brown bears (Ursus arctos arctos) in Alpine regions of northern Italy.
The ½ûÂþÌìÌà government scolded Germany last June when the region of Bavaria allowed hunters to kill Bruno, a brown bear who ambled across the border.
The two-year-old animal, who came from Italy's Trentino region, was shot because Bavarian authorities considered him a danger to humans, especially after he began to prowl around inhabited areas.
Environment Minister Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio sent a letter to his opposite number in Berlin, Gabriel Sigmar, complaining that Bruno could have been captured, not killed.
