Macron halts mass release of bears, shepherd claims

Farmers blame brown bears for surge in deadly sheep attacks in region

Emmanuel Macron has told farmers he will halt reintroduction efforts set up in the 1990s to save brown bears from extinction (REUTERS)

French president Emmanuel Macron has promised to stop releasing brown bears to the Pyrenees after a surge in deadly sheep attacks.

Pyrenean livestock farmers have met with Mr Macron to secure an assurance that he will not authorise the release of any more bears as part of an effort to save the animals from extinction.

“He promised that the re-insertions [of bears] are finished, that he won't release any more,” Jean-Pierre Pommies, a farmer who raises sheep and cows, said after meeting Mr Macron.

Mr Pommies attended the meeting with the president in the Pyrenean town of Pau on Tuesday to explain the concerns of farmers, who say their livestock has been devastated by the bears.

“He was able to understand that it's a big problem for us,” the farmer said.

“We have reached the bottom, and the situation was ridiculous for Pyrenean herders," he added.

France began importing brown bears from Slovenia in the 1990s, when its own population in the Pyrenees was heading for extinction.

Eight bears were freed into the wild in 1996, 1997 and 2006, and another release of two Slovenian female bears following during the second year of Mr Macron’s presidency in 2018.

The Pyrenean population is now estimated to be about 40 bears roaming over a long swathe of mountains along the border between France and Spain.

Bear attacks on livestock have surged in recent years, from a stable number of between 100 and 200 attack per year across the Pyrenees to close to 400 in 2018, according to the most recent official annual report.

Mr Pommies said one of his friends had suffered badly from the surge, when his flock was devastated by an attack last year and his sheep took fright and plunged off a cliff together.

“There were 256 piled up at the bottom,” he said.

“They had to finish some of them off with their knives. For us shepherds, that is traumatic.”

He added that he believes the presence of the bears is simply “incompatible” with the Pyrenean mountain economy that relies on herding.

“The people who are pro-bear say that it used to work for the old timers, that they used to deal with it,” Mr Pommies said, noting that he “loves bears” in other areas.

“That is completely false. History shows that men have always killed them.”

Emmanuelle Wargon, a deputy environment minister who attended the meeting, told broadcaster Sud Radio that Mr Macron “reaffirmed that we don't have any plans to reintroduce [more] bears”.

Ms Wargon said it was “important” for the government to reassure farmers of this.

Additional reporting by AP