A French hunter came to court after killing an endangered bear who turned him into a horror attack in the Pyrenees.
Andre Rives, 81, was Zwijnjacht on November 20, 2021 when a female brown bear the nickname Caramelles launched a vicious attack on him, Charging him and drag him a few meters by the legs.
The violent attack came to an end after Rives succeeded in shooting and killing caramel, but the pensioner remained behind with fractures in his both legs and an open artery.
But because the brown bear is a protected species in the Pyrenees – a mountain range that separates France and Spain – was responsible for killing a threatened animal.
In addition, 15 fellow hunters are also confronted with charges for hunting in the Nature Reserve of Mont Valier, after an investigation has established that the bear was killed 1,300 feet outside an authorized hunting ground.
Rives spoke on Tuesday in the city of Foix in the arieg department in southwestern France and described the moment that Caramelles accused him.
'She grabbed my left thigh, I panicked and shot a shot. She pulled back and growled, she went around me and bit my right calf. I fell, she ate my leg, “he said.
“I have loaded and fired my gun.”
The French hunter Andre Rives came to court after killing an endangered bear who pulled him into the Pyrenees
Rives appeared at the court in Foix, Arieg yesterday, and described how the bear attacked him.
The case led to anger in France, where hunters have held demonstrations to support rivers, because they insist that the pensioner acted in self -defense.
Jean-Luc Fernandez, president of a local yacht federation, said Rives killed the bear in self-defense.
“He shot,” he said.
“He should have let her do it? No, he saved his own skin. '
“A bear is dead. A man lives. It is sad, but I prefer the other way around, “Fernandez said outside the field.
“The bear had dragged him dozens of meters and he owed his survival to the presence of the voluntary firefighter.”
But activists have disputed that Rivers acted in self -defense, with nature associations that also organize demonstrations outside the field.
“To what extent can one argue if one has committed a series of violations that led to the death of the bear caramel?” When asked about Alain Reynes from the Bear-Conservation Association, De L'Ours pays.
The case led to anger in France, where hunters have held demonstrations to support rivers. File photo: Jagers demonstrate for the gendarmerie to support hunters who were placed in the detention after the death of a bear last November, in Saint-Girons, southern France, on 3 June 2022
Rives were injuries on his legs after the bear had towed him a few meters
Chairman of judge Sun Yung Lazare told lawyers for the defense and the 20 natural charities that participated in the trial that was the only issue whether the hunters had killed the bear illegally.
“This is not an anti-bear or a pro-bear test, or pro-shooting or anti-shooting,” she said.
According to the Spanish Beren Conservation Charity Fundacion Oso Pardo, there are currently 83 bears in the Pyrenees.
Bears had almost disappeared from the mountainous area before France started a reintroduction program in the 1990s, as a result of which the country saw the animals import from Slovenia.
The test is expected to end today.
