FRANCE: Hunters have shot dead the last female brown bear native to the French Pyrenées, condemning the species to extinction and causing an "environmental catastrophe" for France, the government said. Animal protection groups were last night concerned for the survival of the bear's 10-month-old orphaned cub, which escaped unharmed but which was barely weaned.
His 15-year-old mother, affectionately known by game wardens as Cannelle (Cinnamon), was killed on Monday when a group of boar-hunters shot her in what they claim was self-defence.
Environment Minister Mr Serge Lepeltier was to visit the site last night to launch an investigation into how the six experienced hunters had been allowed to organise a wild boar shoot in the area where the bear was living. "It is an ecological catastrophe because this was the last female bear of the Pyrenean line," he said.
Hunting was banned in the region yesterday and walkers were stopped from going there with dogs so the cub is not further disturbed. The bear attacked the hunters' dogs out of fright. One hunter fired in the air to scare her but another fired on Cannelle from less than five metres to protect himself.