Marsican brown bears are big but gentle. A full-grown male can weigh up to 200 kilograms - about the same as three grown-ups. But unlike some of their grizzly cousins, they almost never bother people. They prefer the quiet life: high up in the beech forests, away from busy paths.
They eat almost anything they can find, but mostly plants. About four-fifths of their diet is berries, beech nuts, fruit, mushrooms, roots and grass. The rest is honey, insects, fish and very occasionally a small animal. In autumn they eat as much as they can to get ready for the long winter sleep called hibernation.
Hibernation is one of the bear's superpowers. From around November to April, they curl up in a cave or burrow and sleep through the cold months when there is not much food. Their heart slows right down and they live off the fat they built up in autumn. A bear cub is sometimes even born while its mum is asleep.
Because there are so few left, Italy works very hard to protect them. Forest rangers track every single bear. Local villages have signs reminding visitors to slow down on mountain roads and to keep their bins closed. The Marsican brown bear has become a symbol of how a small country can look after a small group of animals if everyone helps.