France have airlifted two bears from Slovenia high into the Pyrénées to help bolster their tiny population in the mountains that border Spain, defying protests by farmers who complain the animals are a threat to their livestock, reports Reuters.
A helicopter carried the first bear in a crate up the mountain range’s grassy slopes on Thursday, evading roadblocks set up on mountain passes by 150 farmers, some bearing rifles, determined to stymie the re-introduction.
Stéphane Pecate, a local official, confirmed the airlift had been completed. A second bear was released in the western part of the Pyrénées on Friday, although the exact location was not disclosed.
“Experts believe that the two female bears are pregnant which means that they will have cubs probably early next year. One bear usually has two cubs,” Marko Jonozovic, head of the department for forest animals and hunting at the Slovenia Forest Service, told Reuters.
“We’ll push the bears out, scare them, make them run away,” one opponent of the operation told reporters on Thursday, accusing local authorities of turning a deaf ear to their objections.
In August, protesters poured blood and dumped sheep carcasses in front of the office of one mayor who backed the plan to introduce the two female bears, as tensions flared between farmers and elected officials.