Slovenian bear to repopulate Pyrenees

French wildlife officials have released a fifth bear into the Pyrenees, the final step in a programme to repopulate the region in south-western France, the Environment Ministry said today.

Sarousse, a 112-kilo, seven-year-old female bear captured in Slovenia, was released into the mountainous French region yesterday, the ministry said. The first of five bears was set free there in April.

Farmers have contested the programme, fearing the bears will attack their livestock. More than 5,000 farmers ringing cowbells and setting off firecrackers protested against the programme in May.

After brown bears disappeared from the Pyrenees in the 1980s, authorities released three bears in the region in 1996, and one of them, Boutxi, killed 165 sheep last year.