Spanish police came to the aid of a brown bear whose apparent quest for acorns led him to pad the pre-dawn streets of a busy city in the north-western region of Castilla y León. The animal was spotted in the centre of Ponferrada in the early hours of Tuesday by a taxi-driver, who filmed its […]
Tag: Pyrenees
Bear filmed fighting off attacking male found dead with cubs in Spanish cave
Spanish wildlife rangers have recovered the bodies of two brown bear cubs and their mother, who is thought to have been the same animal filmed three months ago sending a male bear tumbling to his death down a precipice after he attacked. Rangers and bear experts found the bodies of the female and her cubs […]
Too hot to chirp: French heatwave silences cicadas of Provence
The noise of church bells, ducks, geese, cockerels and even frogs has been the source of many a complaint – and even legal action – from visitors and newly arrived city dwellers in the French countryside. Few will forget Maurice the crowing cockerel, who landed his owner in court in a case that ruffled feathers […]
Brown bears have been successfully reintroduced to the Pyrenees, with 70 individuals identified in 2021, the highest number in a century
A scheme to reintroduce brown bears to the Pyrenees is showing signs of success, with 70 individuals identified in 2021, the highest number for a century. The population has increased from 52 in 2018, according to figures produced by the cross-border group that monitors the bears in France and Spain, with half the creatures living […]
Spain’s Endesa power firm sued over electrocution of birds
In Leonard Cohen’s famous song, a bird on a wire is a symbol of freedom, but for thousands of birds it is the equivalent of being sent to the electric chair. Now, in a landmark case, a Spanish electricity company is being prosecuted over the deaths of hundreds of birds electrocuted on pylons and overhead […]
Record number of bear cubs born in French Pyrenees brings cheer and fear
French animal rights groups are celebrating news that populations of brown bears – which had been threatened with extinction – have seen a strong revival in the Pyrenees mountains. Livestock owners, however, warn bears attacks on their flocks are out of control. Bear numbers rose to from 52 to 64 last year, including 16 cubs […]
Heartbreak as brown bears are shot dead by hunters in Spain
Two protected brown bears have been shot dead on what has been dubbed a ‘dark day’ for efforts to preserve the species. The adult females were killed on the same day by wild boar hunters in Spain, despite conservation groups working to grow the population from near-extinction. One of the dead bears, named Sarousse, had […]
Should shooting stags be allowed during the rut?
La chance me sourit pour l’image ces jours-ci mais elle ne sourit pas aux cerfs porteurs de beaux bois. Non seulement les chasseurs ont droit à 3 jours de battue pendant le brame par semaine, mais aussi à des tirs sauvages ou à l’affût tous les jours. Je suis montée sans trop croire aux possibilités […]