French Hunter Receives Suspended Sentence for Killing Endangered Bear

An elderly hunter in France has been handed a suspended sentence and fine for the shooting of a protected bear, igniting discussions on hunting regulations and wildlife protection.

An 81-year-old man has been sentenced to four months suspended prison time in France after fatally shooting a brown bear during a boar hunt in the Pyrenees in 2021. According to the court, the man claimed he acted defensively when the bear attacked him, stating, "I had no other option." The hunter was also fined €750 and had his rifle confiscated, alongside a revocation of his hunting license.

Fifteen other hunters involved in the incident will together pay over €60,000 (£51,000) in damages to environmental groups, which initiated civil proceedings against them. The deceased female bear, referred to as Caramelles, has been preserved by taxidermy and is now showcased at the Toulouse Natural History Museum.

During the trial at the Foix Criminal Court, the group was accused of trespassing in a protected hunting area when they encountered bear cubs, followed by the mother. The court learned that the encounter escalated quickly, with the mother bear attacking the hunter, who testified about the intensity of the situation.

Prosecutors asserted that the hunters were in a non-permitted area, while the defense argued about insufficient signage indicating the hunting restrictions. The chairman of the bear conservation group "Pays de l'ours" remarked that the ruling was appropriate, emphasizing the importance of collective accountability among the hunters to enhance awareness within the hunting community.

Brown bear numbers in the Pyrenees have seen resurgence following a severe decline, growing from approximately 70 bears in 1954 to an estimated 96 bears presently, thanks to conservation efforts including the reintroduction of bears from Slovenia in the 1990s.