Record litters revive bear population of the Pyrenees - to the dismay of farmers

Brown bear living in Cantabrian Mountains, northern Spain - Fundacion Oso Pardo/Real Press
Brown bear living in Cantabrian Mountains, northern Spain - Fundacion Oso Pardo/Real Press

A record number of bears were born in the Pyrenees mountains last year, pushing the population back from the edge of extinction - and angering farmers.

The bear population in the mountains separating France and Spain grew to 64 in 2020, including 16 cubs, according to animal rights activists.

"It's a record - never before have nine litters been detected in the Pyrenees since we started studying the bear population," the Pays de l'Ours and Adet et Ferus associations said on Thursday.

Farmers have made no effort to hide their dismay at the rewilding of bears as they also face a growing threat of wolves and reintroduced lynx.

Sheep have jumped off cliffs and fallen to their deaths to escape the bears, and hundreds have been killed, they claim.

Farmers are joining in fierce protests and complain about government compensation for their ransacked livestock.

Beautiful landscape with mountain river in the Spanish Pyrenees - Pere Sanz /Alamy Stock Photo
Beautiful landscape with mountain river in the Spanish Pyrenees - Pere Sanz /Alamy Stock Photo

Conservationists claim the situation in improving: Suspected bear attacks fell from 636 injured or killed to 369 last year. In 2019, the total had stood at a staggering 1,200.

At least 150 brown bears wandered the mountain range in the 20th century, but by the 1990s the population teetered on the edge of extinction after decades of hunting.

Two females, Ziva and Melba, were reintroduced in 1996 and joined by a male the following year. 25 years later the 64 bears counted in 2020 was up from 58 the year before, the French Biodiversity Office said.

Conservationists and farmers have long been at loggerheads over campaigns to bolster both bears and Iberian lynx, particularly in Spain’s north, known for its extensive sheep farming.

Iberian lynx - Charlotte Bostock /BBC
Iberian lynx - Charlotte Bostock /BBC

Spanish farmers have condemned the government's recent move to declare the Iberian wolf a protected species, warning a nationwide hunting ban will devastate their livestock.

The Environment Ministry plans to categorise the wolves as an endangered species, extending the protections afforded to them in the south to the north west, where controlled hunting is permitted.

An estimated 1,500-2,000 Iberian lynx roam Spain, with around 90 per cent residing in the north west.

One farmer based in the region lost 11 animals in an attack, with a further 36 dying from their injuries, according to recent reports.

Agricultural unions claim a rebound of the species has increased attacks on cattle and is a sign of things to come.

“It is we livestock farmers who are in danger of extinction,” a statement from the Union of Small Farmers and Cattle Ranchers said.