# Two bears, two completely different stories

> About 50 native Marsican bears live in the Abruzzo park. Trentino's bears descend from 10 brought in from Slovenia and numbered about 98 in 2023.

URL: https://myitalia.it/compare/marsican-bear-vs-trentino-bear
Last updated: 2026-09-11

The Marsican bear is a native Apennine subspecies of about 50 animals living almost entirely inside the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise park, while Trentino's bears descend from 10 brought in from Slovenia between 1999 and 2002 and numbered about 98 by 2023: the same animal, one population protected where it survived and one rebuilt from outside.

## Two bear populations side by side

| | Marsican bear, Abruzzo | Brown bear, Trentino |
|---|---:|---:|
| Origin | native, never lost | reintroduced from Slovenia |
| Founders | not applicable | 10 bears, released 1999 to 2002 |
| Latest estimate | about 50, range 45 to 69 | about 98, 2023 |
| Year of the estimate | not stated | 2023 |
| Main park | Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise | Adamello Brenta |
| Park established | 1922, by law in 1923 | 1967 |
| Park surface | about 50,500 ha | 62,051 ha |

Same species, opposite starting points: 10 founders released on one side, a population that was never lost on the other. One population is a remnant being guarded, the other is a founder group that grew.

## The Marsican bear never left

The Marsican bear, Ursus arctos marsicanus, is a subspecies of brown bear that lives in the central Apennines, and the park authority estimates it at about 50 animals, with a range of 45 to 69. It's the largest bear population in Italy and it lives almost entirely inside the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise national park.

Nobody brought these bears in. The park itself began as a private initiative in 1922 and was established by law in 1923, and its forests cover about 30,000 ha of the park's 50,500. Today the bear population is slowly spreading into the areas around the park.

## Trentino's bears were brought back

The brown bear returned to Trentino through Life Ursus, a project started in 1996. Between 1999 and 2002, ten bears from Slovenia were released in the Adamello Brenta nature park, and the population grew from there.

That's the fundamental difference. Abruzzo protects an animal that survived there; Trentino decided to put an animal back, and chose a population from outside Italy to do it.

## One population holds, the other has grown

Trentino's estimate went from 60 to 78 bears in 2018 to about 98 in 2023, from ten founders. The Marsican figure, about 50, has no year attached to it on the park's own page.

The two numbers aren't directly comparable, because one comes with a date and a method published every spring and the other doesn't. What they do show is two different trajectories: a reintroduced population that grew from ten founders to about 98, and a native one that the park still counts at about 50.

## The parks around them are very different places

The Abruzzo park covers about 50,500 ha with 77,500 ha of contiguous area and 24 municipalities in three regions, and is mostly forest. The Adamello Brenta nature park, established in 1967, is the largest protected area in Trentino at 62,051 ha, with over 80 lakes, the Adamello glacier and the Brenta Dolomites, and it is a UNESCO Global Geopark.

It is also lived in: about 49,000 people live in the area of Adamello Brenta, across 21 valleys. The bears of Trentino share their range with a sizable resident population, which is a different kind of coexistence from the Abruzzo park's.

## Two numbers that don't agree

The Abruzzo park authority's page still describes the Trentino population as about 20 bears reintroduced from Slovenia. That's well below the province of Trento's own estimate of about 98 in 2023.

We use each authority's figure for its own bears: about 50 for the Marsican bear from the Abruzzo park, about 98 for Trentino from the province. When a genetic monitoring program under way in 2026 publishes a new Marsican count, this page will change.

## Where each story takes you

The native bear's country is the Abruzzo park, 50,500 ha of it: read [the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise park](/nature/parco-abruzzo-lazio-molise) and [hiking in Abruzzo](/hiking/in-abruzzo) before you go; the park's other 1922 twin is compared on [Gran Paradiso or the Abruzzo park](/compare/gran-paradiso-vs-abruzzo-park).

If it's the reintroduction that interests you, the Adamello Brenta park and the Brenta group are on [Trentino](/regions/provincia-trento). Neither page promises you a sighting, and neither will we.

## FAQ

### How many Marsican bears are left?

About 50, according to the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise national park authority, with a range of 45 to 69. It's the largest bear population in Italy and lives almost entirely inside the park. The authority doesn't give a year for the estimate, and a genetic count is under way in 2026.

### Are the bears in Trentino native?

No. Trentino's brown bears descend from a reintroduction: the Life Ursus project began in 1996, and between 1999 and 2002 ten bears from Slovenia were released in the Adamello Brenta nature park. The province publishes a new estimate every spring.

### How many bears live in Trentino?

About 98 in the 2023 estimate, up from 60 to 78 in 2018, a population rebuilt from the ten bears released from Slovenia between 1999 and 2002. The province publishes a new count every spring in its large carnivores report.

### Is the Marsican bear a different species?

It's a subspecies of the brown bear, Ursus arctos marsicanus, found in the central Apennines. Almost the whole population lives inside the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise national park and is slowly spreading into the areas around it.

## Sources

| Fact | Source | Confidence | Valid until |
|---|---|---|---|
| L'Ente Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise stima la popolazione di orso bruno marsicano in circa 50 esemplari, con un intervallo tra 45 e 69: e' il nucleo di orsi piu' numeroso d'Italia ed e' quasi interamente compreso nel Parco. | [Ente Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise](https://www.parcoabruzzo.it/pagina.php?id=106) | medium | 2027-12-31 |
| L'orso bruno e' tornato in Trentino con il progetto Life Ursus avviato nel 1996: fra il 1999 e il 2002 dieci orsi furono liberati dalla Slovenia nel Parco Adamello Brenta e la popolazione e' arrivata a circa un centinaio di esemplari negli anni Venti del 2000 | [Wikipedia (dati dai rapporti Grandi Carnivori della Provincia autonoma di Trento)](https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parco_naturale_Adamello-Brenta) | medium | 2027-12-31 |
| Il Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise nasce nel 1922 per iniziativa privata ed e' istituito per legge nel 1923 con il Regio Decreto-Legge n. 257: si estende su circa 50.500 ettari con un'area contigua di altri 77.500 ettari e comprende 24 comuni di tre regioni. | [Ente Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise](https://www.parcoabruzzo.it/pagina.php?id=546) | medium | 2029-12-31 |
| Il Parco naturale Adamello Brenta, istituito nel 1967, con 62.051 ettari e' la piu' vasta area protetta del Trentino: comprende oltre ottanta laghi, il ghiacciaio dell'Adamello e le Dolomiti di Brenta, ed e' riconosciuto come Geoparco UNESCO | [Parco Naturale Adamello Brenta](https://www.pnab.it/); [Wikipedia](https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parco_naturale_Adamello-Brenta) | medium | 2029-12-31 |

## Image

https://media.myitalia.it/media/region.abruzzo.1600.jpg
Author: Guido Castelli. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Landscape_Pacentro_(AQ).jpg

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