Hunters Kill Last Female Pyrenees Brown Bear - One Cub Remains

[hatrack]

"Hunters have shot dead the last female brown bear native to the Pyrenees, condemning the species to extinction and causing an "environmental catastrophe" for France, the government said. Animal protection groups were last night concerned for the survival of the bear's 10-month-old orphaned cub which escaped unharmed, but which was barely weaned.

His mother, affectionately known by game wardens as Cannelle (Cinnamon), was killed on Monday when a group of boar-hunters shot her in what they claim was self-defence.

President Jacques Chirac said: "The disappearance of a species is always a serious loss for biodiversity." The environment minister, Serge Lepeltier, was to visit the site of the killing last night to launch an investigation into how the six experienced hunters had been allowed to organise a wild boar shoot in the area where the bear was living. "It is an ecological catastrophe because this was the last female bear of the Pyrenean line," he said."

EDIT

http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,11882,1342683,00.html

[Dem Agog]

1. Do the french have...

gun-wieldin', god-fearin', gay-hatin', religious fundamentalist pigs? Or is this an American incident abroad?

[DavidDvorkin]

10. Yes, they do

So do other countries -- all of them, probably. The difference is that they're a minority in the civilized world. Too bad we're no longer part of that world.

[Fovea]

2. Did Bush do a little jig when he heard about it?

Like Hitler?

[Burma Jones]

3. At Last, we are safe from the evil Pyrenees Brown Bear

Fuck these imbeciles.........

[skylarmae]

4. So sad...

[el_gato]

5. They ought to shoot those hunters, IMHO

[blindpig]

6. fuck fuck fuck

goodbye, I'm sorry. Why should our species deserve any better fate?

"...animals are pure.....animals don't hire lawyers"

[phantom power]

7. If this was the last female, the game was already lost.

Stories like this make me sick, but the odds of coming back from a single breeding female are the ultimate long-shot.

It sure is spirit-crushing, regardless.

[NNadir]

11. You are right.

It's tragic that it should end this way, but the end happened quite some time ago.

[jakpalmer]

8. So sad

Did you know that in France hunters have their own political party. It is called "Hunting, Fishing and Tradition" (!). They are a bit like the fundies or the NRA in the USA.

Their main preoccupation is "defending their way of life". It looks like everything in their life is about freedom of hunting.

This party is a real pain in the ass in some parts of the country mainly during local elections but sometimes even national elections.

Very very sad.


And also: some hunter recently shot dead one of the few wolves that remain in some parts of the Alps. On the French side of the border, wolves are "a nuisance" because each year they kill a few dozens of sheep (which are promptly reimbursed by the State) whereas on the Italian side of the border they are an asset, especially for tourism.
Go figure...

[govegan]

9. The rats of western "civilization" race on!

Very sad when one of nature's beautiful creatures
feels the indignation of the black heart of man.

[cubsfan forever]

12. What's really sick is that there are NRA

lunatics who would draw straws to see who would have the "honor" of blasting the remaining cub into extinction. As a former (way, way back) member, I say:
:puke: on the NRA. Charlton Heston is a whore!

Professor 2