French environmentalists reacted with fury on Tuesday after hunters shot dead one of the last remaining bears in the Pyrenees mountains separating France and Spain.
The 15-year-old female — known to game wardens as Cannelle — was killed on Monday in the Aspe valley when she and her cub were surprised by a group of hunters taking part in a wild-boar shoot.
The hunters claimed they shot in self-defence after Cannelle charged, but environmentalist groups accused them of deliberately selecting an area where they knew they were likely to come across the bear.
”There are no extenuating circumstances behind this indescribably catastrophic event,” said Action Nature in a statement.
”The organisers of this wild-boar hunt knew perfectly well that Cannelle and her offspring of this year were in the area where they went to indulge their pleasure,” the group added.
”A hunt with dogs in a sector where a female bear has been spotted is inexcusable,” said the organisation Ligue Roc.
Campaigners said they are extremely concerned for the safety of the bear cub, which fled the scene after its mother was shot.
There are believed to be about 15 bears surviving in the Pyrenees mountains. Canelle was the only reproducing female in a sub-group of fewer than six living in the western end of the range.
The dominant male in the sector, a 30-year-old named Papillon, died of old age in July.
Attempts to boost bear numbers in the Pyrenees by importing animals from Slovenia in the late 1990s have proved partially successful. But their presence is fiercely resented by cattle and sheep farmers, many of whom are also local hunters. — Sapa-AFP