© Andia Uig/Getty Images
Sheep in the Pyrenees
Sheep in the Pyrenees
Their deaths have reignited the bitter debate over the presence of bears in the mountain range that straddles the French-Spanish border, where they were reintroduced 20 years ago after disappearing in the early 1990s.
The sheep belonged to a farmer in the Couflens area on the French side of the border, but their bodies were found last Sunday at the foot of a cliff just over the border in Spain.
The rest of the large flock was missing after dispersing over the mountains while fleeing the attack.
Local authorities sent experts to examine the scene during the week and they concluded that the sheep had been running away from a bear.
Comment: There's some doubt on the bear attack theory. Any farmer in the Pyrenees with sheep dead from unknown causes, i.e. where they are found dead with no evidence of animal attack, would most likely try to push the "bear said boo!" angle. These kinds of government/EU subsidies and compensation have been exploited by farmers and others across the EU for decades.
Although a bear attack can't be ruled out, we can suspect that the incident was created by a "weather event" or something that created a high impact explosion, like a sonic boom or lightning strike. Sheep have acute hearing and are prone to "instantly scatter" away from heavy percussion and the source of the vibration. Many of the sheep were found to have dispersed over the mountains. It's dubious that a bear attack would create that type of a reaction.
On the other hand, the Spanish news agency Europa Press said that bear fur had been found on one of the dead sheep. The fur would be analysed to try to establish exactly what had happened. But this is a bit strange that bear fur can be found so opportunely on a sheep. Another possibility is that the bear didn't come along afterwards and the sheep were spooked by something else.