If you go down to the woods today, you might just see a bear. After a successful reintroduction scheme, there are now some 70 individuals in the Pyrenean mountains. The French Ariège plays a major part in their history. 

A Little History

The Pyrenees and bears go back a long way. The name comes from Pyrene, who was the daughter of a Mediterranean Gaul king in Greek mythology.  Raped by Hercules, she bore a serpent and subsequently fled to the woods in terror where she was to die – some would have it killed by a bear! The remorseful Hercules buried her and piled rocks on her grave, so creating the Pyrenees.

Bears were once found throughout Europe. More concrete evidence comes from their fossilized remains which have been found dating back 200,000 years in the Pyrenees and they feature in local cave paintings – Niaux, near Foix, even has a unique Paleolithic engraved paw print. 

At the turn of the 20th century, it is thought about 150 bears lived in the Pyrenees, but  continual hunting for sport or by shepherds, as well as habitat loss, reduced their numbers until by the 1990’s only a few individuals were left.

The Reintroduction Programme 

It was at this stage that the French Government, with EU funding, instigated a recovery programme, releasing 2 female bears in 1996 (Ziva and Melba), and a male called Pyros a year later, from whom every cub until 2016 has been descended. The bears were relocated from Slovenia, and were thought the most similar genetically to the Pyrenean bear, as well as living within a similar landscape. 

In 2004, Canelle, the last native bear was shot. She was 15 years old and had a 10 month old cub, Cannelito, which surprisingly survived.  She can still be seen, stuffed for posterity, in the Toulouse Museum.

4 females were released in 2008 and the troublesome Goiat in 2016. There were 2 more females added in 2018 (by helicopter due to protesters blocking the roads) but further releases were put on hold following violent protests and the policy changed to only replace the bears when one died. 

It is thought Pyros fathered over 40 cubs, although they have lost track of him in more recent years and he is assumed dead. 

In 2022, it was announced that a 2021 count revealed about 70 individual bears throughout the Pyrenean chain, a number considered a great success by some. 

Non aux Ours

Whereas many applaud the seeming success of the bears return and their contribution to the biodiversity of the environment, others see it very differently

The eleveurs or farmers have lived with bears over the centuries. Their most frequent point of contact has been during the summer months when transhumance is practised: the traditional grazing of the flocks and herds on the rich mountain pastures. 

Anyone walking in the Pyrenees cannot fail to stumble across the ruins of the basic stone huts or orreys once used by the farmers as their summer residences, usually clustered around a reliable water source. Cheese was often made.

The herds were protected by shepherds and their dogs: on the French side, the snowy white Pyrenean Mountain Dog, and on the Spanish, the more mottled Pyrenean Mastiff. A smaller shaggier Pyrenean Sheepdog was actually used to herd the animals. 

However, with the demise of the wolves and bears in the last century, the farmers had grown lazy. They no longer had the desire or need to live on the mountain with their animals so the modern, larger herds roamed the mountains with minimal supervision.  It was hard to live in a basic stone hut when a modern house beckoned and new roads meant they could quite often just drive up to check on their herds.

However, such a laissez faire attitude does not work when there are bears around, yet many farmers have been reluctant to change their recent way of life. There have been ongoing militant arguments, particularly in the Ariège, and the painted protest slogan Non aux Ours (No bears) can be seen frequently on the local roads – quite often ‘vandalised’ to read Oui aux Ours! by the opposing lobby!

The French Government has put schemes in place to ameliorate the conflict. Many of the traditional huts are now shelters for hikers, whilst a shiny modern equivalent has been built next to them, complete with solar panels for heating and light – modern shepherds expect more home comforts when spending long periods on the mountains.

Generous compensation is paid for any animals killed by a bear. There are grants for electric fencing (useful at night), the employment of shepherds and the buying and training of guard dogs.

These ‘patous’ have proven to be probably the most effective bear deterrent of all, yet the farmers are strangely resistant to them. One concern they cite is that they will attack other mountain users but I have always found that if given adequate space and respect they merely woof. 

About the Bears

The brown bear (ursus arctos) can weigh up to 300 kg and run at 50 kph. They are largely omnivorous, eating grass shoots, roots, fungi and the berries which grow wild on the mountain such as blueberries and raspberries.

Mixed forests provide beech nuts, chestnuts and acorns. They will scavenge on dead animals and have been known to take sheep and goats. Goiat (‘the lad’) has even been accused of upsetting bee hives. 

They are solitary animals and are most likely to be seen in the spring when mating or in late autumn as they feed in readiness for winter, usually at dawn or dusk. They  ‘den’ for the winter in caves, crevices or fallen trees, although they can emerge if the weather is mild. The distinctive shoulder hump displays the strong muscles used for digging and foraging.

The average lifespan of a brown bear in the wild is 25 years.

Dancing Bears 

An interesting aside: the Ariège was once the bear training epicentre of France. By the 19th century, it had become  a local speciality in the Alet and Garbet valleys and there was even a bear training school in Ercé – the village now has an interesting little museum which covers the period.

In a poor region with little work, the oursaillès or orsalhers (in occitan) found a career in bear taming. They would kill the mothers in order to take the cubs (in the final days they actually had to buy imported cubs from the Balkans as there were so few local bears) and display them throughout Europe. Some 220 of them travelled as far afield as America between 1874 and 1914, when war effectively bought an end to the practice.

Many subsequently found more lucrative employment in America and stayed there, buoyed by further inter and post war emigration. The restaurant trade was a popular choice and there is even a Roc d’Ercé in Central Park in New York where they would meet up. 

Oui or Non

So the conflict and controversy continues over the bears. As recently as early August 2022 a court in Toulouse overturned a local Ariegois ruling which said that rubber bullets could be used to frighten bears away. The judgement said that it risked driving bears from their natural range (in this case Col d’Escots near Guzet Neige) and they hadn’t been shown to be causing that much damage – plus the shepherds had not put sufficient measures in to protect the herds. Some 250 people protested against the ruling in St Girons the following week.

In the mean time, there is a growing tourism interest in ‘bear tours’ and the rewilding of the region continues. There has also been a successful reintroduction of ‘bouquetin’, or Pyrenean Ibex, which were hunted to extinction in the Ariege by 1910.

In Spain, the Iberian Lynx is thriving again and last year the shooting of wolves was banned in north western Spain.

However, in the last days of August 2022, the first wolf attack was confirmed in the Ariège on a sheep flock near Orlu – if the latter become prevalent in the region, and it is surely only a matter of time, then the farmers will really have something to complain about: the bear is 80% herbivorous, the wolf is largely carnivorous !

NOTES

Where to find the bears:

The population is fairly thinly spread over an area of 6,500 sq km with about half of them in the Spanish Catalan Pyrenean regions of Vall d’Aran, Pallars Sobirà and Alta Ribagorça.

You may also be lucky in the heights of the Ariège: Cirque de Gerac, Col d’Escots, or above Ax-les-Thermes and the high passes of the Haut-Ariège. 

Check out www.paysdelours.com for latest bear updates. They organise bear walks throughout the summer in the French Pyrenees.

There are also bear tours in the Val d’Aran on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees www.facebook.com/adventurecreators/

Le musée des Montreurs d’Ours

This is found in the Mairie in the interesting old village of Ercé, near Aulus-les-Bains. It is open every afternoon in July and August or by reservation all year. 

Tel : 06 82 58 82 36/ 05 61 66 86 00  www.patrimoine-du-couserans.com has more information.

www.tourisme-couserans-pyrenees.com is a good introduction to the Ariège.