This means that the wolf is now officially « in danger of extinction » and will be especially protected. Previously the wolves were considered visitors and the species « extinct » (though still protected).

News today is that, for the first time in 100 years a #wolf pack has been detected in the Pyrenees. The two adults and three cubs, born this year, are living in Catalonia, at the Mediterranean end of the massif. A first lone male wolf arrived in 2000. His ancestors were Italian.

The first lone male wolf came back 25 years ago. Now, a pack has formed. Expect things to move fast from now on. @markavery.bsky.social

Encounters are rare because the bears were only reintroduced in 1996 and the population remains small. More in my book...

Hunters have some knowledge, but bears are regularly killed during wild boar hunts. Sometimes in self-defense, sometimes carelessly. The general public knows little about bears, and there is little attempt to educate them.

Hi, thanks for your interest. They were hunting wild boar. Bears are strictly protected--there are only 100 in France, all in the Pyrenees. It is a brown bear Ursus Arctos, same species as grizzly but at the small end of the scale, though males can reach 200kg, 440lbs. There are no black bears here.

I wrote about this in my book The Implausible Rewilding of the Pyrenees.

Bear cub found again by its mother, Sorita. Sorita was brought to the Pyrenees in 2018 to increase genetic diversity and has been living up to her role.

I have always wondered what that was supposed to mean...

I had the chance to interview him in the summer pastures for my book "The Implausible Rewilding of the Pyrenees", which has just been released in French.