The Hindu : International / Globescan : Hunters kill last brown bear

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Friday, Nov 05, 2004

International

International - Globescan

Hunters kill last brown bear

Paris: 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 has said. Animal protection groups were on Wednesday 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. The 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 to launch an investigation into how the hunters were 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. (The picture shows a brown bear). — © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

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