a hunter seriously injured by a bear, the animal shot

According to several sources from France 3 Occitanie, a hunter was seriously injured on Saturday, November 20 in the afternoon, on the heights of the town of Seix (Ariège) in Couserans. Without knowing exactly the circumstances of this event, the man would have killed the bear before being taken over by the high mountain gendarmerie platoon (PGHM) and transported to the Center hospitalier intercommunal des valleys de l’Ariège (CHIVA) in serious condition.

The information is also confirmed this evening by our colleagues from AFP and the Dépêche du Midi. According to testimony collected by the local daily, the hunter would have shot the animal twice during the charge, “killing the animal instantly”, and would have been attacked in the legs.

Contacted in the evening, the prefecture of Ariège, the mayor of Seix, Hélène Nirascou and the parquet floor of Foix did not wish to confirm or answer, at first, our questions on this particularly sensitive case.

Finally, around 10:30 p.m., the state services sent a press release to the press:

That day, around 3:30 p.m., the high mountain gendarmerie platoon intervened to rescue a 70-year-old man seriously injured in his leg. The victim was immediately transported to CHIVA in a condition deemed to be of concern. The man is a hunter who was hunting wild boars. He would have met a female bear accompanied by her two cubs. The gendarmes spotted a bear carcass below the place where the victim was found, which could support the thesis of an accident linked to the encounter between man and animal. A judicial inquiry has been opened to understand the circumstances of this accident

Prefecture of Ariège

November 20, 2020

This incident comes at the worst time. During the month of October, the Prefect of Occitanie met the various actors of the Pyrenees in order to renew the threads of dialogue and organize working groups on the subject of pastoralism and the bear.