Killer or Folk Hero?

Bruno may have been killed by a bullet, but his story refuses to die.

Bruno was spotted earlier this year in the southern German Alps, the first brown bear to dare show his hide in Bavaria in 150 years.

An effort to track the elusive ursine led to a media watch rivlling Paris Hilton's. Eventually, he was shot by hunters, on the order of authorities who feared he might attack people while foraging for food.

But the tale of Bruno did not, would not, end with his death. Now, authorities have decreed that his carcass should be moved from its current home to a freezer in a secret location.

The body of the folk-hero bear -- visitors still flock to the Schliersee region to place wooden crosses at the site where he was killed -- has been at the animal anatomy department of Munich University since the death of Bruno, last June.

But after the head of the department received threats from animal-rights activists the authorities moved the remains to an undisclosed location, the Bavarian environment ministry said on Wednesday.

Officials said specimens of bone and internal organs of the animal would be made available to scientists for research purposes, while the animal's pelt was being prepared so that it could be stuffed and displayed in a museum at some later date.