A bear which fatally mauled a runner has been captured by authorities in northern Italy.

Officials in Trento announced on Tuesday that the animal, identified as Jj4, had been captured overnight.

Andrea Papi, 26, was killed while on a mountain training run between April 5-6, prompting renewed debate over what to do with Italy’s growing brown bear population.

Brown bears are coming into contact with people more frequently (Ben Birchall/PA)

The Trento provincial authorities ordered the bear to be killed but an animal rights group appealed to an administrative court, which suspended the order on April 11.

Jj4 is the same Alpine brown bear that injured a father and son out walking in the region in 2020. Then too, provincial authorities ordered her to be killed but a court blocked the move.

She was born to two bears brought to Italy from Slovenia two decades ago as part of a European programme to boost the brown bear population that had been dwindling but has now rebounded and is increasingly having encounters with people.

Mr Papi’s family said they do not want the bear to be culled.