Hundreds of people demonstrated Thursday in Ainsa, Spain against reintroductions of bears in the Pyrenees, at the call of about forty Spanish and French agricultural organizations. "We complain about the reintroduction of the bear", a decision taken "without taking into account the life of the villages and herders" of the region, said Felix Bariain, president of the agricultural union UAG of Navarre (north of the Spain).
"Bear, the ruin of the rural world"
"We are asking that the violent bears be removed from the Pyrenees," he added. "Bears, the ruin of the rural world and extensive livestock farming", "no bears, safe Pyrenees", could be read on the banners in videos broadcast by local media.
Among the organizations present, numerous local branches of agricultural unions and food cooperatives, as well as the French agricultural unions, the French Federation of Farmers' Unions (FDSEA) and Young Farmers.
Two bears focus critics
The program to reintroduce bears in the Pyrenees dates back to 1996 and operates thanks to Slovenian bear releases. Breeders regularly complain of attacks against their herds. In recent months, two bears have particularly focused criticism: Goiat, a male of about 13 years who attacked horses in particular in the Spanish Pyrenees, and Claverina, a female released at the beginning of October in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques in France , accused of killing sheep on both sides of the border.
This situation forces the farmers to watch their herds 24 hours a day without being able to rest, causes economic losses, pushes some to abandon their work and discourages young people who want to settle down as breeders, accused Felix Bariain. According to a count of the Oso Pardo Foundation in May, about 45 bears are recorded in the central part of the French and Spanish Pyrenees, and four in the western Pyrenees on both sides.