An 81-year-old man in France has received a four-month suspended jail sentence and a fine for killing a protected brown bear in the Pyrenees mountains during a 2021 hunting incident. The man claimed he was left with no choice but to shoot the bear, nicknamed Caramelles, after it attacked him while he was hunting boars. The incident occurred in the Mont Valier nature reserve, and additional fines totaling over €60,000 (£51,000) were distributed among 15 other hunters involved in the same illegal hunting party.
The bear, which weighed approximately 150kg, has been preserved and is now showcased at the Toulouse Natural History Museum. In court, the defendant explained that during the attack, the bear bit him on the leg, prompting him to fire his weapon in self-defense.
However, prosecutors argued that the hunters were unlawfully hunting outside of designated areas. Despite the defense team’s claims about insufficient signage indicating hunting regulations, the judge ruled in favor of environmental preservation. The primary shooter received a fine of €750, and he lost his hunting license along with his rifle.
The verdict has been endorsed by the bear-preservation group Pays de l'ours, with its president, Sabine Matraire, expressing hopes that this ruling will encourage greater awareness within the hunting community.
The brown bear population in the Pyrenees has seen a revival since stringent conservation efforts began in the 1990s after their numbers plummeted to about 70 individuals in 1954. Today, approximately 96 bears roam the mountain region, showcasing a positive trend in wildlife conservation despite ongoing challenges.
