GB ENVIRONMENT 03 03 2024
                 ENVIRONMENT

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PYRENEES: IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE BROWN BEAR
Located in France in the western part of the  Pyrénées  mountain  range and extending
over  the  departments  of   Hautes  Pyrénées  and   Pyrénées  Atlantiques  respectively
located in the Occitanie and Nouvelle Aquitaine  regions, the Pyrénées National Park is  a radiant and  welcoming  territory  which  enchants with its  diversity of its landscapes
complemented by wild and natural  spaces which also  represent the last stronghold of the presence of the brown bear in Southern Europe.
Listed since its creation in 1967 in the category of  national parks  and extending in its central part called “Heart of Park” over an area  of  45,707  hectares  covering 15  municipalities  with a minimum altitude of 1273 meters and maximum of 3,298 meters and  backed  by  the  Spanish  border, the Pyrénées  National Park  communicates also over more than 100
kilometers with the "Parque Nacional  Ordesa Y  Monte  Perdido" (National  Park of Ordesa and of Mont Perdu in Spain )
in addition to the natural reserves  of  Néouvielle  and  Ossau, the  whole  called "Pyrénées  Mont  Perdu" being included
on the UNESCO World Heritage list as a cultural landscape.This vast natural space also  includes  230 high-altitude lakes
parallel to the highest peaks of the Pyrénées  in  France is  also  a  living  place for  the  brown  bear,thanks  to the active
reintroduction operations undertaken since 1996 which  gives us  in 2024 an  ursine  population on the Pyrenean massif 
estimated at 76bears that  we  encountered  in  the  wooded  areas  of  the  forested and  rugged  regions  of the massif. 
"Threatened and also protected species in Europe, the brown bear benefits from  preventive and corrective measures in 
France with,since 1958,the ban on hunting followed by the interministerial decree of April 17, 1981 validating the list of 
protected mammals throughout  the  territory  of  French  because,  after  several  centuries of  hunting and poaching in 
addition to frequent human presence mountain ranges, the brown bear had  practically  disappeared from the Pyrenees 
where there  were,particularly  at  the  end  of the  1990s, only  6 to 7 bears  across  the entire  Pyrénées chain". Philippe GONDET explains to me as a nature guide in the park for  5 years  and great  expert  of local fauna.Emblematic figure of
the Pyrénées and imposing by its size  and  its  morphology  includes  thick fur  with  a coat varying from brown-black to 
beige complemented with short and rounded  ears, the  Pyrenean brown  bear weighs in  adulthood more than 200 kilos 
for males compared to 100 for females and represents the smallest species of the bear family in Europe with a collection 
program of clues and route  tracking (traces,  hairs, droppings  and photos  traps by  automatic devices)  carried out and
coordinated within  the  framework  of  the  Brown  Bear  network  by the  National  Hunting and  Wildlife Office in close collaboration with the Park, the French Biodiversity Office and other communities concerned.

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The Development and Preservation of Wild Life

Traveling  through  the  Pyrénées  and  its  national  park  is an  unforgettable  getaway  because you discover numerous natural spaces very often  preceded  by  morning  mists  which  cover, like a  cloud, its  summits, its  lakes and its forests.

which are reminiscent of an impressionist painting with a particularity that it is pleasant  to contemplate in these places expressing all the diversity of our territories integrating the good practices of ecotourism respectful of the environment

in parallel with the fact that the Pyrenean massif benefits from  a climate  conducive  to  development and  preservation

of wild life. Varying according to the seasons, the brown bear occupies a  wide range of  environments located between

the bottoms of valleys at less than 600 meters  above  sea  level and  the  mountain  pastures at more than 2000 meters above sea level with a preferred area which is the forest made up, in particular, of the  beech-fir forest which is found in the Pyrenees and as a nocturnal and twilight animal but also active  and  daring  in the  delimitation  of its territory,male

bears are able of large movements,  crossing  passes  located  at  almost  3000  meters of  altitude, particularly in spring

when searching for females.Made up of 70% OF plants  (fruits,  berries, chestnuts,  raspberries and  blueberries) various

insects and also large mammals  wild and  domestic, the  brown bear  also  feeds on  carrion alongside sheep and its life

cycle is punctuated between the winter period which we  call “Winter sleep”  which goes  from November to March and

until the end of April for females before outings and courses spread mainly over spring and summer  which are also the

periods  can  be  observed  using  a  good  pair of  binoculars or a  suitable  telescope  like  photographing it  in its great

environment with a camera equipped  with a  powerful  telephoto lend  used  for  photography animal.In total harmony

with its  geological  configuration in  an  environment  often  integrating  surprises at every step,the Massif Of Pyrénées

attracts lovers of nature and wide open spaces but  also  many  lovers of  adventure and  getaways  off the beaten track

in  this  region  which,in  addition  to  radiant  territories  decorated  with  natural  spaces, integrates  the particularity of

maintaining an environment preserved any excessive human presence that it is always fascinating to explore and which is the living expression of its environmental wealth enhanced by a  fauna and flora that we never tire of discovering.


Report: GABRIEL PAGE


Photos credit: GABRIEL PAGE / Getty Images

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