Bernard, an Ariège hiker crossed paths with a bear at altitude in the town of Seintein. – B. Lesage
- Today, nearly 65 bears are present in the Pyrenees.
- Last Thursday, three hikers crossed paths with a young bear in Ariège, at an altitude of 2,200 meters.
- For Bernard, one of them, it was the third in fifteen years.
“It’s always a wonder”. Last Thursday, Bernard Lesage, an Ariégeois, was hiking with his wife when their path crossed the path of a young bear in the town of Seintein, in the Pyrenees at 2,200 altitude. “He was about a hundred meters away, we were able to follow him for a long time while he was on the snowfields and then he came to the other side and merged with the stones. It’s the end of hibernation, they go out and are looking for food, ”said this retiree who shared this moment (to see here) with a third hiker crossed a few moments earlier.
But out of the question to share the exact place on the massif where he saw it. Because this nature lover does not want to give leads to those who would be opposed to the presence of bears on the massif.
Do not panic
However, he filmed and shared the wanderings of this young bear of about two years at first glance. A meeting which for him was not a first. Fifteen years ago, he had already found himself on the same path as a plantigrade. At the time, fear had taken hold of him. “I didn’t know what attitude to have, since I learned. And ten years ago, on the same path as the first time, I crossed one again and I stepped aside, ”says the man who divides his time between the Pink City and Ariège.
These impromptu head to head between the ursine population and humans are likely to recur more and more often according to this hiker. “Today there are more bears than there are fifteen, even if crossing one is an event. In the future, we will undoubtedly be called upon to have more people who will see it. You have to know how to remain calm, not to turn your back on it or run, but give way to it, ”warns the one who looks at the presence of the bear in the Pyrenees with a benevolent eye.