Far from controversy, seven cubs spotted this spring in the Pyrenees

• While the pro and anti bears are hovering around the gunshot death of a plantigrade in early June, seven pups have already been spotted in the Pyrenees in the spring.
• These cubs born in January come from four different litters, three of which live on the French side of the massif.

Already palpable, the tension between pro and anti bears has reached new heights in the Pyrenees since the discovery of the body of a male shot dead on June 9 in Ustou, Ariège. Far from these controversies, the rest of the Ursine community of the massif continues its life. Seven cubs were spotted in the spring, thanks to photographic and video traps, or to human observations.

"They come from four different litters, three in France and one on the Spanish side," explains Alain Reynes, in favor of the plantigrade. The director of the Pays de l'Ours-Adet association, who relies on official data not yet published, will not say more about their location, because of the burning news. We just know that the first bear observed this year was on May 19 in Ariège.

Pyrenees: A first cub of the year points its snout in Ariège https://t.co/KUD1x7ZtvW via @ 20minutesplanet pic.twitter.com/p9DEbC1feD

These figures are still provisional and could approach, or even exceed, the bar of ten reached in 2019. "Depending on the year, there are between five and ten births, says Alain Reynes. The pups are all born in January, in the maternal den during hibernation. Their mothers have not yet been identified. "

Droppings and "fur traps"

They may be so in some time in a genetic way, thanks to the discovery of droppings or to the "fur traps" placed on the trunks of certain trees. Attracted by a specific smell, the brown bear scratches its back there with pleasure. But whether they are seven, ten or more, all these “2020s” will not survey the Pyrenean slopes in a few years, like fifty of their peers today.

“Infant” mortality is 25% in brown bears. Besides illnesses or accidents, a young can have the misfortune of falling between the claws of an adult male eager to mate with his mother. This is undoubtedly what happened last year to the bears of Sorita, detected and then disappeared in the central Pyrenees.

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