Goiat, the second most famous bear in the Pyrenees, after Pyros and with the permission of Cachou, has passed away. The 2023 Brown Bear Network report (made up of France, Catalonia Andorra, Aragon and Navarra) includes this specimen on the list of dead plantigrades in that mountain range, after having shown no signs of life in the last two years.
Goiat became famous in those mountains for his voracious behavior and impudence when approaching inhabited areas. Their repeated attacks on livestock, in Aran, Sobrarbe and the Aragonese Ribagorza, caused alarm among the teams in charge of monitoring the bear colony. The possibility of capturing him and removing him from the Pyrenees was even considered, after the operations (firecrackers and shots) to scare him did not work.
Goiat’s predatory behavior mobilized mountain ranchers. Various protests were called to request its expulsion from that territory and the Government of Aragon even asked the Generalitat – that administration was the one that introduced this specimen in 2016 – for its immediate expulsion from the Pyrenees. But in the end there was no need to resort to that expatriation protocol, which had never been applied in that mountain range. Goiat is no longer, at least, officially in those mountains as the administrations now consider him dead.
In the case of Goiat, as the Herald of Aragon has reported, this voracious instinct is considered the most reliable evidence to add it to the list of deceased bears. Two years without showing signs of life are considered sufficient to certify his death, since if he is still alive it is considered practically impossible for him not to have carried out any attack in all this time.
The Slovenian bear released on June 6, 2016 in Pallars Sobirà to end the sexual monopoly of Pyros, father, grandfather and great-grandfather of the majority of specimens that live in these mountains. But this star “signing” did not fulfill the assigned mission, which was none other than to impregnate the maximum number of bears to increase the genetic diversity of the Pyrenees colony.
During his time in these mountains, Goiat became more famous for his attacks on livestock – which animal rights activists do not believe was abnormal – than for his ability to seek out and encourage love affairs.
The alert for such voracious behavior made the General Council of Aran react, in addition to the Government of Aragon, which unanimously agreed, in a plenary session held in May 2018, to request the capture and repatriation of the bear from the Generalitat.
The reasons given then? His dangerousness (in the spring of that year alone he was considered the author of twenty cattle raids) and his impudence when choosing his prey.
Goiat had a special predilection for horses and showed no fear of human presence. He had sneaked into gardens and approached farms and urban centers to look for food. The expulsion measure was never agreed upon.
