The river that runs through Maria Alm is called the Urslau, from the Latin Ursa, meaning bear, a legacy from a former large population of bears. Bears threatened the survival of struggling farmers with little livestock, and since the wealth of the ruling classes relied on the farmers working their land, the hunting of bears was encouraged, until, by the 19th century, they were all gone. Following public outrage in the 1970's when a migrant Slovenian bear was killed in Southern Austria, support grew for the reintroduction of bears to Austria. Beset with problems, including a rogue bear who destroyed 50 bee hives, killed 20 sheep, pulled the plug out of small ponds to drain the water and eat the fish, and enjoyed a rabbit supper while children slept in a nearby tent, this project has been managed over the last 20 years by WWF Austria. The project appears to have mostly involved an 'emergency bear' swat team shooting rubber bullets at bears who are becoming human-habituated. This year, they announced that brown bears are extinct again.
