“Bears named M49, M57, DJ3 are currently held at the Casteller facility. M49 has in recent years become famous worldwide for his acts of resistance, repeatedly escaping from the facility where he is currently detained. DJ3 is one of the three children of Daniza, a bear killed several years ago. They are all locked in confined spaces, victims of repeated sedation, stress, anorexia and there are other captures planned. Needless to say, the Casteller does not meet their ethological needs. In spite of the substantial European funding aimed at safeguarding and protecting the brown bear (Life Ursus Project), the Autonomous Province of Trento has repeatedly proved incapable of establishing interspecies cohabitation.
There are in fact economic interests linked to tourism and hunting behind such political strategies. These wild non-humans are criminalised and stigmatised solely for their ethological needs and oppressed by speciesism. We are convinced that coexistence with them is possible, as it is in several other parts of Italy. Even if this is not possible, we have no right to deprive these bears of their freedom, since it is we humans who have invaded their habitat. On 18 October 2020 there was a siege of the prison called Casteller, organised by Assemblea Antispecista and Centro Sociale Bruno.
The action took place on several levels: the first one occupied and blocked the entrance, while the second and third one started to dismantle the fences. While the gate was blocked, a hundred or so activists started to dismantle hundred metres of external fence, chased by police and drones. In addition, a small group entered, passing the first and second, until they reached the new bear cages (the outdoor areas where they are given the hour of air). Each section was strategically fundamental for the realization of this act of resistance.
The action has been supported by realities such as Coordinamento degli Studenti Medi of Trento-Rovereto, Insectionals, Oltre la Specie, Resistenza Animale, Rise Up for Climate Justice, Scrofe in Rivolta, and Veganismo Logico.
An anti-speciesist project, but also deeply consistently anti-oppression. The fight against the Casteller embodies the resistance of all non-conforming bodies, which daily fight back the State and the prison system, the Patriarchy, Cisheteronormativity, Fascism, Racism, Capitalism, Abilism and psychiatric control. This is just one of the actions that will be carried out, we call for the immediate release of the bears from captivity. We will not stop until this and other cages are empty.
Find more information here: https://instagram.com/centro_sociale_bruno?igshid=1u3vwe4p9ev13
