81-Year-Old French Hunter Gets Suspended Sentence for Killing Endangered Bear During Boar Hunt
A French court has sentenced an 81-year-old hunter to a suspended prison term after he shot and killed an endangered brown bear in the Pyrenees. The court also penalised 15 other hunters for entering a protected nature reserve, ordering all 16 to pay over €60,000 to environmental groups.
An 81-year-old French hunter has received a four-month suspended prison sentence for fatally shooting an endangered female brown bear in the Pyrenees mountains during a 2021 boar-hunting trip — an incident that sparked backlash from environmentalists across Europe.
The hunter claimed self-defence, stating that the bear attacked him unexpectedly, leaving him no choice but to shoot. The shooting occurred within the Mont Valier nature reserve, a protected area straddling the French-Spanish border known for its efforts to restore the endangered bear population.
In its ruling, the court emphasised that the group of hunters, totalling 16 defendants, should not have entered the reserve at all. As a result, the judge revoked their hunting licenses and ordered them to collectively pay over €60,000 ($68,000) in damages to the environmental groups that filed the civil suit.
During the March trial held in Foix, southern France, prosecutors argued that the group ignored conservation laws and entered a forbidden zone, contributing to the tragedy.
Defence lawyer Charles Lagier urged the court to acquit the group, insisting that the hunter fired only in self-defence.
“He had no other option,” Lagier said.
Environmental groups, however, hailed the verdict as a significant step toward holding violators of wildlife protection laws accountable. The Pyrenean brown bear population remains critically endangered, despite years of efforts to reintroduce and protect the species in its natural habitat.
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