"On this mountain, the bear is dead but it still hits every night". When asked to the president of the Ariège chamber of agriculture his reaction following the discovery at the beginning of the week of a bear probably killed by bullets in his department, he immediately mentioned the eight sheep found lifeless on Tuesday and Wednesday on the same massif. "In Ariège alone, we have had to deplore over the past three years 3,000 sheep killed," says Philippe Lacube, considered here as the leader in anti-bear. We can feel sorry for the death of a plantigrade but we can also do it for the lives of these men and women who are exhausted from being attacked. "
To hear this local figure defend tooth and nail the breeders, we understand that the war of the bear in the Pyrenees has just been relaunched. Since France decided 25 years ago to reintroduce several specimens of this protected species, tensions have been recurring. But the death of this male weighing nearly 200 kg near the Guzet ski resort marks a new level.
In a joint press release, several animal protection associations condemn this "poaching by bullets" and announce that they "will of course file a complaint for destruction of protected species, an act punishable by 3 years in prison and a fine of 150,000 euros". “All means are used to identify the author (s). It is an act of great gravity, "declared the prosecutor of Foix Laurent Dumaine while the State announced its intention to file a complaint.
Exasperated and demoralized breeders
"This new step taken in violence is part of a context of impunity for opponents of radical and violent bears that our associations have denounced for years, emphasize the NGOs. It is unacceptable in a state of law that some seek to impose by violence a point of view that they have failed to assert through democratic and legal means. ” The director of the Pays de l'Ours-Adet association does not take heart. "We must not believe that we are in a civil war in the Pyrenees, fumes Alain Reynes. A very large majority of the population is favorable to the presence of the bear but the strategy of a minority of very radical opponents is based on the conflict. "
While the transhumance of herds must begin on June 15 in the mountains, some local elected officials defend the point of view of the shepherds. "The breeders are exasperated and sometimes so demoralized that they no longer want to lead their herds to the summer pasture, sighs the mayor of Saint-Lary (Ariège) Gérard Dubuc. It must be said that here, where most of the bears are concentrated, there are predations almost every day. The spirits had already warmed up last summer, with the jump in losses attributed to the bear, after several massive drawdowns. In the Ariège department alone, where the species is most present, 565 compensation files had been submitted, counting 1,155 dead or injured sheep.
"Replace any dead bear from human causes"
The government had also announced last week an extension of 500,000 euros to the funds allocated to the coexistence between pastoralism and bears. Chance or coincidence, the bear found dead was discovered by experts from the French Office for Biodiversity who were carrying out observations of predation after breeders had declared sheep killed on Sunday, not far from there.
The corpse of the plantigrade lay in a steep area near the Cirque de Gérac, 1,800 m above sea level. If the autopsy confirms that the wild animal died shot dead, pro-bear associations ask that the State reintroduce a new plantigrade on the massif. "In accordance with its commitment to automatically replace all bears that have died of human causes," recalls Alain Reynes.
"The restoration of the bear population in the Pyrenees is a legal obligation for France and when we are elected, the law we respect it", adds the pro-bear activist. The last release of Slovenian bears dates back to 2018, the government having since frozen the reintroductions. According to NGOs, the plantigrade population has now exceeded fifty individuals.
