The population of brown bears in France’s Pyrenees mountains has risen to levels not seen since the 1990s, authorities have said.
Brown bears in the area were hunted almost to the point of extinction until three bears were released from a population in Slovenia in 1996 – making local sheep farmers furious.
Since then, the population has grown steadily, with the French Biodiversity Office and its Brown Bear Network counting 83 bears and 16 cubs during the course of last year.
Of those, 37 are female and 40 male, while the sex of the remaining six is undetermined.
The numbers are up from 76 bears counted in 2022 and 70 in 2021.
The bear population is spread over some 7,100 square kilometres, between the French Pyrénées-Orientales department and Navarre in Spain.
Scientists used footprints, hairs and footage from infrared cameras to count the bears. Two were the cubs of Caramelles, a bear killed by a hunter in November 2021.
Inbreeding worries
Despite the boost in population, French NGOs say the survival of the species in the area is still not guaranteed – accusing authorities of disregard the “essential question” of increasing inbreeding.
"All cubs born in 2023 are affected,” they said in a joint letter, adding that some were the result of parents and grandparents who are already inbred.
“Genetic diversity is deteriorating [...] All studies confirm this, but the state refuses to act.”
More than 85 percent of brown bears born in the mountain range since 1996 were the offspring of a single male, Pyros, the NGOs added.
Activists see bears as integral to preserving a fragile mountain ecosystem that is under threat from human activity and climate change.
The population of brown bears in the Pyrenees is subject to annual cross-border monitoring involving the Andorran and Spanish authorities.
