A French court has imposed a four-month suspended prison sentence on an 81-year-old hunter for shooting an endangered bear in the Pyrenees, sparking fines for other hunters involved and raising awareness about wildlife protection in the region.
Elderly Hunter Sentenced for Killing Endangered Bear in Pyrenees
Elderly Hunter Sentenced for Killing Endangered Bear in Pyrenees
An 81-year-old French hunter receives a suspended sentence for the unlawful killing of a protected brown bear amid a boar hunt.
An 81-year-old hunter in France has been sentenced for killing a protected brown bear while hunting boars in the Pyrenees mountains. The Foix Criminal Court imposed a four-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of €750 on the man, who justified his actions by claiming self-defense during a bear attack in 2021.
The brown bear, a 150kg female named Caramelles, has been preserved and is now displayed at the Toulouse Natural History Museum. The court revealed that the hunting party, which included fifteen other hunters, was engaged in an illegal hunt outside of an authorized area, prompting total fines exceeding €60,000 to environmental associations pursuing civil claims.
During the hunt, two bear cubs appeared, followed by their mother. According to the hunter, she charged at him, prompting him to fire shots in self-defense after sustaining bites. The prosecutor argued that the group violated provisions by hunting outside the designated hunting zone. The defense criticized the lack of signage indicating the hunting prohibition.
The ruling has been praised by bear preservation advocates, who emphasized the need for greater awareness among hunters regarding wildlife conservation. Brown bear populations in the Pyrenees had notably declined over the years, dropping to about 70 in 1954. However, conservation efforts, including a reintroduction program that brought in three bears from Slovenia in the 1990s, have contributed to an estimated population of about 96 bears in the mountains in 2024.
