Tag Archives: bears

HRP, Nature

Rewilding in Catalonia: sheep and bears, the official version

Leave a comment
Sheep from the Boldis-Àreu flock now back in the valley.
Sheep from the Boldis-Àreu flock now back in the valley. In summer they can be seen on the GR11 near the pass between these two villages.

Source: Press release Department for the environment and sustainability, Generalitat de Catalunya, in conjunction with PirosLife and EU Life program, 31 October 2018, with additions based on interviews with one of the shepherds involved.

After five months in the high pastures the 36 sheep farms working with the PirosLife project have brought their 5600 sheep and goats back from the mountains. While in the mountains the animals were grouped into six flocks and various measures taken to protect them from bear attacks. The cost is borne by the PirosLife project.

Continue reading Rewilding in Catalonia: sheep and bears, the official version →

Nature

Bears in the woods in Catalonia (and France)

5 Comments
Bear cubs photographed on an automatic camera near the Port de Tavascan, July 2017
Bear cubs photographed on an automatic camera near the Port de Tavascan, July 2017

The French government has recently promised to reinforce of the brown bear population in the western Pyrenees. Predictably this has stirred up French shepherds following an increase in attacks last year. Demonstrations are being planned. But on the other side of the border, in Catalonia, things are much quieter. Shepherds seem to be more willing to accept the new constraints. Continue reading Bears in the woods in Catalonia (and France) →

Nature

Rewilding: A new bear for Catalonia

Leave a comment

Brown bear – ursus arctos, ós bru (Catalan) oso pardo (Spanish)

Brown bear – ursus arctos, ós bru (Catalan) oso pardo (Spanish)

Catalonia has just announced [TV interview in Catalan]  [report in French] that it will release a male bear from Slovenia in the Pyrenees this May. The aim is to widen the bear population’s gene pool: at present most of the thirty bears have the dominant male Pyros as their father or grandfather (sometimes both). The project has been on the cards for many years but the PirosLife rewilding project is being cautious.

Continue reading Rewilding: A new bear for Catalonia →