About a week ago, French Environment Minister Francois de Rugy announced, that two female bears from Slovenia will be released in an effort to prevent the dwindling the number of bears in the natural environment in the Pyrenean. Deutsche Welle reports, that the Pyrenean sheep farmers are furious. They did not announce the exact location or date at that time, because they wanted to avoid the smallest risk that could jeopardize the relocation from Slovenia.
The bear has been released near Etsaut and the French Environment Ministry announced that the second female bear from Slovenia will be introduced in the next few days. The decision made by the Environment Ministry was accompanied by a protest. Local farmers protested in order to emphasize that these protected animals attack their livestock. They blocked the roads, and painted the words: "It’s war." At the same time, they inspected trucks that could possibly be transporting the bear. According to the French media, the female bear was released from the cage, which was brought by the helicopter in order to avoid any confirmation with the farmers.
De Rugy: Farmers’ attitude is unacceptable
De Rugy responded to the farmers’ protest, and called their attitude "unacceptable" and denounced those who feel "entitled to set up roadblocks and threaten with guns". France actually imported the first bear from Slovenia back in 1996 in order to preserve the species which was close to extinction due to hunting in this area. There are about 40 bears living in the region between France and Spain, and there are only two male bears living in the area, where the bear from Slovenia was released. The last indigenous female bear is supposed to be killed by a hunter back in 2004.
Although the French government pays compensation to farmers for loss of livestock, they strongly oppose the decision made by the authorities. According to the farmers, bears attack in these areas have doubled. They claim that there were around 230 attacks this year and they lost 372 animals. According to government data, last year farmers received compensation for losing 798 animals and 25 beehives, which were killed or destroyed by bears.