Last Saturday, while participating in a beaten in Seix, in Ariège, a 70-year-old hunter was seriously injured by a bear. To defend himself, he cut down the plantigrade which was with its young. This Friday, Léa Filippi, deputy public prosecutor of Foix, opened a judicial investigation against X for “destruction of protected species”. But also for “illegal hunting in a reserve”, because according to the first elements of the investigation, the hunter should not have been in this zone indicates.
The fight took place in part on the Mont Valier state reserve, an area managed by the National Forestry Office. The presence of hunters would therefore constitute an infringement of the Environmental Code, no authorization having been issued by the ONF. “This area is subject to hunting rights restrictions. Violations of the environmental code related to the ban on hunting at the scene of the facts are likely to be noted, ”explained the representative of the prosecution.
Investigations continue
The bear’s autopsy showed that she received only one fatal bullet. The hunter was bitten in both legs, one of which was fractured. For the time being, investigations are continuing.
This dramatic accident has already revived tensions between pro and anti-bear. Supporters of reintroductions of plantigrade in the Pyrenees mountains have launched a petition to call for an end to beatings in areas where plantigrades are numerous. For their part, opponents of the bear, this Thursday, the department of Ariège, the Chamber of Agriculture and the pastoralism federation installed the “Parliament future mountain”, a new entity that wants to become an essential interlocutor on questions concerning the presence of large predators in the Pyrenees.