French hunter on trial for killing mother bear ‘in self-defence’

AFP | Foix

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A 81-year-old French hunter went on trial on Tuesday, accused of killing an endangered female bear that had attacked him in the Pyrenees.

The brown bear is a protected species in the mountain range, which separates France and Spain.

Andre Rives was boar-hunting when a female bear nicknamed Caramelles attacked him.

On November 20, 2021 two bear cubs emerged from the woods in front of Rives. Then their mother appeared, charging at him and dragging him for several metres. He shot and killed the animal.

Rives sustained leg injuries, and a fellow hunter gave him first aid before he was evacuated by helicopter.

According to the investigation, the bear was killed 400 metres (1,300 feet) outside an authorised hunting area.

“This is not an anti-bear or pro-bear trial,” the presiding judge said.

Rives is on trial for “destroying a protected species,” he said. Fifteen other hunters who also took part in the hunt were being prosecuted for various offences, including hunting in the Mont-Valier nature reserve, one of the oldest reserves in the Pyrenees.

Around 20 associations had filed a lawsuit.

Jean-Luc Fernandez, president of a local hunting federation, said Rives killed the bear in self-defence.

“He fired,” he said. “He should have let her do it? No, he saved his own skin.”