The Foix prosecutor's office announced Friday, November 26, the opening of a judicial investigation into the death of a bear killed by a hunter in the Pyrenees, specifying that the beaten was located in part in an area prohibited to hunting.
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The 78-year-old hunter, seriously injured in the legs by the bear and hospitalized, says he was attacked by the bear because he was between her and her two cubs and that he had fired on the animal to save his life , according to a source in the entourage of the hunter. The autopsy confirmed that the bear died from a bullet impact. "
The Foix public prosecutor's office has decided to open a judicial investigation against X for the offense of destroying a protected species
," he said in a statement. “
This beat took place at least in part in the state reserve of Mont Vallier (Ariège). This area is subject to hunting rights restrictions. Violations of the environmental code related tohunting ban on the scene are likely to be raised
», Said the deputy prosecutor, Léa Filippi.
The magistrate added that the hunter's medical examination had revealed "
bites to the left thigh, calf and tibia of the right leg, resulting in a fracture
".
The hunter was found "
near the carcass of a bear,
" she said.
The object of judicial information will be to determine criminal responsibilities and to shed light on the unfolding of the facts, she underlines.
Read also Ariège: a hunter kills a bear who had just bit him
In the 1990s, France initiated a program to reintroduce plantigrades from Slovenia when the bear population in the Pyrenees was threatened with extinction.
The current population is estimated at around sixty individuals in the Pyrenees, including around forty in Ariège, which is insufficient to ensure the survival of the species.
