We are far from the Spanish Cantabrian Mountains where there is an estimated population of 250. But over the years, bear numbers in the Pyrenees tend to grow. Last year, members of the Office of Biodiversity (OFB) identified 70 of them on a playground of 6,500 km². They were 64 the previous year.
If 15 cubs appeared on the slopes of the massif, from eight litters, some did not survive. This is the case with those of Caramellita. The Caramelles bear was also killed during a wild boar hunt in November 2021 and some bears that have not been detected for two years are no longer in the workforce.
According to Association Adet-Pays de l’Ourswho scrutinized the report, 80% of Pyrenean bears are less than 10 years old and there are almost as many males as females.
Six in Béarn
On the other hand, they are unevenly distributed over the massif. The vast majority are concentrated in the central Pyrenees. They are only six in the western part, in Béarn, where Claverina and Sorita were released in 2018. The latter had a litter of three male cubs with Rodri, who becomes a “father” for the first time.
To feed themselves, these plantigrades have sometimes opted for predation on the livestock present in the pastures. On the French side, the services of the OFB thus recorded 331 attacks in 2021, causing the death of 570 animals, against 636 in 2020. On the Spanish side, 18 predations were recorded.