The continued and relatively confident presence of a young bear on the C-28 road, in the municipality of Alta Áneu, in the vicinity of the port of Bonaigua has caused anticipation and concern in recent weeks. Despite the dissuasive actions put into practice in two successive periods by technicians from Rural Agents, Climate Action, Mossos d’Esquadra and Catalan Forestry, the animal remains without moving away from the area, with apparent danger not only for its security but also for the of traffic on this county road and visitors.
Seven conservation entities (groups and coordinators) have now signed a joint declaration calling on the competent administrations to immediately implement phase 3 of the protocol approved in 2018 for intervention with bears in the Pyrenees and, consequently, proceed to capture the animal and remove it from the area where it has been seen for weeks.
Phase 3 of this protocol, with the removal of problematic animals, has not been put into practice until now on any occasion, not even when this possibility was raised (in 2018 and 2019) due to the repeated attacks on livestock by the Goiat and Cachou bears.
The possibility of capturing the bear currently in the Bonaigua is a possibility that has been and is being studied by the technicians responsible for this monitoring but, for the moment, the official response is that attempts will continue to drive it away from the risk area with security measures. sound alert and shots of rubber bullets.
The signatory entities of this petition (ADLO Pirineu, ARBA Litoral, Associació Animalista LIBERA!, ADDA, FEDAN, Plataforma Grup Llop Catalunya and Ecologistes en Acció) emphasize that this would be an exceptional measure to guarantee both animal and traffic safety and the people who are present in the area
Thus, the environmental groups ask “the Head of the Fauna and Flora Service of Catalonia to draw up an immediate and specific Intervention Protocol for this specimen, and to dispense with the aversive conditioning techniques of phase 1, applied late and ineffectively , to go directly to phase 3: capture and removal of the specimen”. It would be, the ecologists detail, “a non-lethal extraction and transfer of the animal from the area in which the incidents occur.”
In parallel, these entities request that toxicological analyzes be carried out on the carrion that, according to Agents Rurals, someone deposited to attract the bear, recalling that the Cachou bear died poisoned with antifreeze deposited in carrion specially prepared for this specimen in the Soberpera forest. (Les, Vall d’Aran).
Finally, the ecologists request that an official statement addressed to tourists, hikers and neighbors be issued indicating that it is absolutely forbidden to approach the bear, photograph it and disseminate its location. In this sense, it is remembered that the brown bear is an endangered species and cannot be disturbed.
These groups also recall that the withdrawal of the young specimen now in the Bonaigua must be an action carried out “in an exceptional manner […] prior authorization from the competent body in natural matters, the law allows the capture, possession, exhibition, photography, filming and observation of protected species”.
