“self-defense”.

For Ariège hunters, this is the explanation for the death of a bear on November 20, 2021 in the Pyrenees.

The female was killed during a wild boar hunt by a 70-year-old hunter she had just attacked.

But the gendarmes are continuing their investigation, seeking in particular to determine whether the group was authorized to venture into this area of ​​the town of Seix.

And the investigations are accelerating.

Six hunters were held in police custody on Wednesday and Thursday, according to the president of the Ariège Federation, Jean-Luc Fernandez, and two other participants in the hunt were summoned this Friday to the Saint-Girons gendarmerie.

Two hundred hunters gathered in front of the building to applaud and encourage them.

“We are treated like criminals”

"It's intolerable to be in this position.

It was the bear who attacked the hunter, and not the opposite, killing her was self-defense, was offended Jean-Jacques Méric, mayor of Caumont, a small village.

(…) These police custody are shocking, we are treated like criminals”.

For the president of the Ariège Chamber of Agriculture, Philippe Lacube, the situation is also "unbearable": "We are directly attacking the men and women of these mountains", he says, considering that in cases related in bears, hunters and breeders are systematically treated with a "presumption of guilt".

Angry hunters can also count on the unwavering support of Christine Téqui, the socialist president of the county council.

“The situation is going to happen again.

This time, there was an injury, tomorrow there will be a death, ”warns the elected official.

She regularly pleads for regulation of the population of bears in the Pyrenees.

Planet

Ariège: Judicial information opened after the death of a bear killed by a hunter she had just attacked

Planet

Pyrenees: Last year, 70 bears were counted in the massif, including 15 cubs

  • Planet

  • Pyrenees

  • Hunt

  • Bear

  • Investigation

  • Occitania