The bear population in the Pyrenees continues to consolidate and in 2023 it reached the number of 83 specimens, with the birth that year of 16 cubs (out of 11 litters), according to the balance of the Cross-border Monitoring Group for Brown Bears in the Pyrenees (GSTOP). ), technical body of which the Generalitat of Catalonia, the Conselh Generau d'Aran and the governments of Andorra and France, Aragon and Navarra are part.
Experts highlight that this is one of the highest numbers of births recorded since the first reintroductions of the species in 1996. The figure of 83 specimens is the number of bears detected, although the existence of some more specimens is not ruled out. identified. Of this total, 37 females and 40 males are known, while the gender of another 6 individuals has not yet been determined.
Also of the known total, 43 specimens are potentially reproductive adults (26 females and 17 males), 24 subadults and 16 offspring.
According to calculations prepared by the Os Bru Cross-Border Monitoring Group in the Pyrenees, it is estimated that the average annual growth rate of the bear population in the Pyrenees in the last four years has been 10.94%.
Regarding specimens that are reported dead or missing during the year 2023, the figure is 7 (3 adults and 4 subadults). In this count of casualties, the specimens for which there is evidence of death or for which there is no evidence for two years are counted.
The total distribution area of bears in the Pyrenees is currently estimated at about 7,100 km², which represents an increase of 1,700 km² compared to 2022 and 600 km² compared to 2021. The current area extends along 230 kilometers of this to the west, from the southwest of the French department of the Pyrenees-Orientales to the northeast of Navarre. The increase in area is mainly due to various dispersal movements of subadult male bears, particularly in the western, eastern and southern extremes of the range.
Since 1996, the general trend in range size has been one of continued increase, broadly reflecting the demographic trend of the population.
The population monitoring of the bear is based on two methodologies for searching for signs of the presence of specimens: the first opportunistic (damages, observations, footprints, traces, feces) and the second systematic (scheduled operations). In 2023, 1,731 signs of presence have been confirmed in France (hair samples: 33%; automated photos and videos: 24%; depredations on domestic animals or beehives: 21%; faeces: 12%; footprints and tracks: 5%; visual observations: 4%), 1,175 in Spain (hair samples: 45%; automatic photos and videos: 37%; visual observations: 6%; feces: 4%; predations: 4%; other types: 4%) and 11 signs in Andorra. 41 specimens in the Catalan Pyrenees.
In Catalonia, there are 281 systematic traps (photographic cameras and hair traps) to detect the presence of bears, distributed in 103 4x4 kilometer grids and 12 8x8 kilometer grids. During 2023, 1,999 reviews of systematic traps have been carried out, of which 1,562 were negative (78.14%) and 437 positive (21.86%). In the Pyrenees of Catalonia, with all monitoring methods combined, 674 contacts of brown bears have been collected (437 systematic and 237 opportunistic). Each contact can generate one or more bear signs (1,107 total in 2023).
In Catalonia, a total of 502 hair samples have been collected and 384 photographs or videos have been taken with automatic cameras. Data on food consumption (7), predations (43), feces (46), observations (66), tracks and footprints (34) and others (7) have also been collected.
All of this has served to identify a population of 41 specimens this 2023 in the regions of Aran, Pallars Sobirà, Pallars Jussà and Alta Ribagorça. There are 23 adult specimens, 10 subadults and 8 puppies, of which 21 are males and 15 females. The Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda of the Generalitat, "has been developing a series of preventive measures for coexistence with livestock farming that are based on the grouping and surveillance of the herds during the day and closing the herds with surveillance and protection by protection dogs at night.
The damage prevention program aims to provide an effective response to local ranchers who own sheep and goats who are located in areas where bears are present, susceptible to attacks and/or depredations. The objective is to enable coexistence between extensive mountain and bear farming, and reduce interactions between them, highlights the information note released by the Generalitat at 12:09 p.m. (April 2).
