Bears still in the sights

Picture IROZ Gaizka/ AFP

The proposed re-introduction of two female bears into the Bearn Pyrenees next year was the subject of a demonstration in Pau yesterday. Sheep farmers claim that over 600 animals, mainly ewes, were killed last year by bears. The argument has rumbled on for years, indeed the killing of the bear Cannelle 14 years ago was evoked as a symbol "you would think they had killed a man, not merely a bear" opined one chasseur.
Minister for Ecology, Nicholas Hulot, is convinced that bears and sheep can co-exist with precautions taken by farmers. Farmers, on the other hand, vehemently denounce this policy.
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