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11/04/2004:

"Hunters kill last brown bear"

by Amelia Gentleman
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.

Full Article:guardian.co.uk