Palouma the Bear, Fallen For France

This year, the French government released five brown bears from Slovenia in the French Pyrenees mountains. Some Pyreneean shepherds, an endangered species, got angry. As I reported in an earlier Reflection, the French government was forced to release the bears at secret times and places to avoid disruption.

Battle lines have been drawn. According to Reuters, pro and anti-bear graffiti is a common sight along roadsides in the Pyrenees, a region where bears were once common.

In August, hikers found Palouma, one of the Slovenian bears, dead at the foot of a cliff. A wide-ranging investigation into her death has begun. Here are some of the headlines translated from the French press:

--Death of Slovenian bear Palouma probably accidental
--Palouma's death resuscitates debate over Pyreneean bears
--Death of Palouma: "No possibility excluded"
--Pyrenees: the death of a bear
--Palouma, will she be replaced?
--Palouma's autopsy: Nothing suspicious found
--Palouma, fallen for France

A representative of a green party in France says that if Palouma was chased off the cliff then, "it's murder, pure and simple."

Speaking of murder, I was surprised to learn that the tiny number of beleaguered brown bears in France kill about 300 sheep and cattle per year. But wait! Not so fast! These official statistics are wrong, says AVES France (the Association de Protection des Espèces Menacées). According to AVES, whenever a herder claims that a lamb, kid, or calf was killed by a bear, the government gives him the benefit of the doubt and pays an indemnity, hence the inflated statistics. http://www.aves.asso.fr/article.php3?id_article=288.

Senior French songster, Renaud, just released a musical homage to Palouma entitled "Rouge Sang." (Yes, he's one of those one-name guys. No, I'm not making this up.)

Passions among the shepherds have not cooled either. Following a violent demonstration, some of them were recently convicted of crimes and given suspended prison sentences as long as four months.

As the French say, "A suivre..."