Bears come back to France

The French are very concerned about the dozen or so bears living in the Pyrenees. A few years ago I even saw a children's sweatshirt that said, "Maman, c'était quoi un ours?" [Mama, what was a bear?] as if they were already close to extinction. They actually are near extinction in France, and there was a huge uproar when the bear named Cannelle (Cinnamon) was killed in November 2004.

To me it seems a little odd. I am a bear-lover too (although I have met bears too close for comfort in Wyoming, Montana, and upstate New York). But after all, there are tens of thousands of bears safe in other parts of the world. I get the feeling a lot of bear supporters just love the way bears look.

Last summer while sojourning in grizzly country, I read a book on how to survive bear attacks* (it was the revised edition, which alarmingly shows that the original advice was not 100% bearproof!) and learned that the European bear and the grizzly are essentially the same animal genetically. But the European bear, after millennia of being hunted down for every aggression against humans, now flees from people, and so has managed to survive in remote places of the east European mountains and in Scandinavia.

I thought this story was funny and you can tell that the reporter did, too.

From AP news today.

The release of the female bear Palouma, planned for Tuesday at the end of the day in the village of Arbas (Haute-Garonne), was delayed by several hours because of the presence of about a hundred opponents of the reintroduction of the plantigrade [sole-walker], to the mountain, it was learned at the beginning of the evening from those accompanying the Minister of Ecology.

The anti-bear people had come in small groups, after hours of walking through the mountains, and placed themselves uphill from the site chosen for the release, making noise with bells and cans, which put into question the release of the animal, which had arrived by truck from Slovenia, according to information given by the press pool present, and confirmed by members of the Minister's group.

According to Philippe Lacube, president of the ASPAP (Association pour la sauvegarde du patrimoine Ariège-Pyrénées, or Association for the safeguarding of the Ariège-Pyrénées patrimony), this action allowed the opponents to display their disapproval of the reinforcement of the bear population. It showed Nelly Olin that "this is not the way we see the future of the Pyrenees," he said.

The Minister of Ecology called the opponents "cowards", "imbeciles", and "donkeys", and assured them that she would not renounce her plan of reinforcement. "It's a beautiful story turned into a nightmare," she declared, explaining that to release the bear under these conditions was too risky, and that it would be kept several hours in a secret place before being let go, doubtlessly during the night.

*(one way to survive)

Comments

[Jessica]

It's not only about extinction. Predator animals are essential to a balanced eco-system, even in France.

[Azure-Te]

Yes, this is hilarious. Do we NEED bears ? Certainly there's nothing more important going on here these days than bears and anti-bears riots. Sadly hilarious.
Bright idea, this "Who's en colère today". I'm sure you'll find more than enough material to make it a daily column. Je vous lis toujours avec un grand plaisir, et un demi sourire.

[Enguerrand]

interesting and well pointed note.
In french is an example how bear/shepherd relation ship is managed in Canada. It is not that different in state like Oregon, Washington or Wyoming in USA, far different than in France. see
http://enguerrand.over-blog.org/article-2621011.html