Bear relocated to sanctuary after Italian bakery break-in

March 7 (UPI) -- An Italian brown bear that made headlines when it broke into a bakery to feast on cookies has been captured and taken to a sanctuary.

Wildlife officials said the bear, dubbed Juan Carrito by residents of Roccaraso, Abruzzo, was taken to the Palena bear reserve in Chieti province due to the bruin's repeated bad behavior.

The 2-year-old Mariscan bear made headlines in November 2021, when the animal broke into a Roccaraso bakery late at night and feasted on cookies.

The bear was tranquilized after the incident and moved to a remote area of Maiella National Park in Abruzzo, but the animal was spotted at a Roccaraso ski resort about a week later.

Officials said Juan Carrito was ensnared in a baited trap on Sunday after being spotted lurking around a local train station.

"The intervention was necessary to protect the bear and keep it away from potentially dangerous situations and, in general, from an environment where it has been feeding almost exclusively on waste for too long," Lucio Zazzara, president of the Maiella National Park, told The Guardian.

Zazzara said officials are still hoping to eventually return Juan Carrito to the wild.

"Now the priority is to work on its return to nature by implementing the procedures that will enable this to happen," Zazzara said.