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When the experts thought that the brown bear Nere would not mate again, he made a 300-kilometer trip through the Pyrenees that left the scientific community surprised. “Now I am in a valley where five years ago I saw Neré in heat chasing a bear,” recalls Marc Alonso, from the Brown Bear Foundation, over the phone. The plantigrade had spent 14 years practically isolated in the western part of the Pyrenees, but decided to move towards the central area where most of the specimens were found. Since then, “it comes and goes in the mating season,” says Alonso. And this year several of their offspring have been identified.
The population of brown bears in the Pyrenees reached only five individuals in 1995, but the data recently published by the Transfrontier Monitoring Group (GSTOP) show that, little by little, the number is recovering.
The data, which correspond to the 2021 balance, add up to 70 copies: 36 adults, 19 subadults and 15 pups.
“We are in the phase where the population is still small. It is the smallest in the world and we want it to increase little by little and that there are no consanguinity problems”, explains Santiago Palazón, from the Fauna and Flora service of the Generalitat de Catalunya.
Growth was virtually zero in the first 15 years of bear reintroductions from Slovenia, beginning in 1996. Balkan bears were brought in by share genetic line with the extinct Pyrenean bears, of which today only Cannellito, descended from the mother of the Pyrenean lineage. It is in the last decade that the program has really taken off. The growth is around 11% per year. “This leads us to the fact that in 2030, the population will be around 110-120 bears,” says Palazón. It will not be enough. There are still “many years” to consider the population consolidated.
The reproduction of this species is slow. The bears raise few cubs and not every year: the litters are one to three copies and require a lot of care. To this must be added deaths from natural and unnatural causes. But among the parameters that most concern the scientific community is the consanguinity.
Bear Pyros, introduced in 1997 and now dead, was the great breeding male of the Pyrenees. Have more than fifty descendants, between children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and there are very few who do not have a link with the bear. Even so, the genetic effect is diluted when there are more reproductive males. Hence the joy of the experts upon discovering Neré’s travels. “These bears have surprised us [por Neré y por Cannellito, también asentado en la parte occidental]nature is very wise”, says Alonso.
This year’s data shows that there are adult bears and even older ones that have begun to reproduce, as well as other younger ones that have participated in reproduction for the first time, says Palazón. For Natalia Tailor, of the Molecular Genetics Veterinary Service of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the evolution is “very positive”. He works in the European program LoupO, which does the genetic monitoring of wolves and bears in the Pyrenees. “Except for a few individuals, the bear population is not at risk of inbreeding,” she says. Therefore, he believes that there is no need to introduce new specimens from Slovenia. “The population is healthy and there has already been a reintroduction of a bear, Goiat, for this purpose a couple of years ago». From Goiat, conflictive for attacking horses for several seasons, the first offspring have already been found.
Coexistence
In addition, reintroductions are not without controversy. “The more bears, the greater the conflict or the more contact with human activities,” acknowledges Palazón. Each bear “has its personality, like people” and they may not cause big problems or attack horses, like Goiat or Cachou (deceased). In the Arán Valley, for example, one or two bears «that they seem smarter» have learned to get around the electrified fences that protect the honey. “It’s like an arms race,” says the technician. The authorities are reinforcing the fences and the bears are once again learning to pass them. “Some wards look almost like prisons,” he explains.
However, according to Alonso, improvements in livestock management to minimize losses they are bearing fruit. The herds of different owners are grouped together, the figure of the shepherd and the mastiff has been recovered, and the cattle are kept in fences at night, which has reduced the damage attributed to bears and improves coexistence with man.
Human encounters are anecdotal. “In 30 years, we have eight incidences, two in the Pyrenees and none with a fatal outcome,” says Alonso. The bears avoid it. And he sets an example. A month ago, a group of skiers reported a bear trail on their way. When the expert went to check it out the next day, the tracks in the snow told a curious story. The bear went straight through the forest until it reached the spot where it was meeting the skiers. “He changed direction and hid behind a giant fir tree”. He only came out when the skiers disappeared.
“Animals avoid us. They have to be in a very desperate situation for there to be an accident and they react aggressively,” says Alonso. But if you find a bear trail on the mountain, don’t follow it.
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism