Goiat is considered dead, but traces of six more bears are detected in the Aragonese Pyrenees.
The 2023 Brown Bear Network report includes it among the last 7 “extinct” specimens in the mountain range, as no signs of it have been detected in two years. Even so, the population of the species continues to grow. The experts of the Red Oso Pardo (Brown Bear Network), made up of France, Andorra, Aragon, Navarra and Catalonia, consider Goiat, the most feared specimen in recent years due to its predatory drive and which caused alarm bells to ring due to its numerous attacks on livestock in the regions of Sobrarbe and Ribagorza, to be dead. This led to the mobilization of livestock farmers and even the Government of Aragon went so far as to request its withdrawal from the Generalitat, which had released it in 2016. The 2023 report on the presence of bears in the Pyrenees concludes that Goiat is one of the 7 “extinct” specimens after not having detected any sign of its presence neither in Spain nor in France since April 25, 2022, a few days after it attacked a herd in Gistaín. ” An adult male like him, normally very active, can hardly be missing for more than a year”, they emphasize. For him to be considered dead, more than two years must pass without knowing anything about him. “There are many more Goiats, the problem is not over”. José Serveto, mayor of Plan and livestock farmer, collected possible traces of Goiat on more than one occasion and despite the fact that he is now considered dead, he is not calm “because there are many more Goiats, so just because one disappears, the problem is not over”, he stresses. For this reason, he continues to demand that the bears be controlled to avoid attacks on livestock. “Because if not, you live in fear of finding dead animals that you have been working all year to raise,” he says. The study analyzes the geographical distribution of the species and its demographic trend and reveals an increase of bears in the Pyrenean mountain range to 83 specimens (26 females and 17 adult males, 17 subadult males, 7 subadult females and 16 cubs), which are distributed over an area of 71,000 square kilometers, 1,700 more than in 2022. In Aragón, 82 signs of bear presence were collected, including tracks (6), hair (22), automatic photos and videos (42), scat (1), visual observations (3) and other clues (3). They were distributed between two main areas. In the eastern one, the male Canelito and the female Douillous were identified several times in spring in the Benasque valley. Evidence of the former was also collected in the Gistaín valley. And in the west, the Claverina bear is no longer alone because the sub-adult males Larry and Bious (probably) were also seen several times in the valleys of Ansó and Hecho, as well as Neré. This one was detected in the rutting period (an automatic photo was taken on April 30, 2023), “which allows to foresee a litter in 2024”. Attacks on domestic livestock decreased notably last year, from 11 to only five. The Aragonese bear population is much lower than that of Catalonia (41), where there were 16 attacks on livestock and 19 on beehives. In Navarra, the Claverina bear and the sub-adult males Berói and Larry (possibly) were also detected several times in the Isaba sector, near the border with Aragón. Meanwhile, in the French Pyrenees , 349 attacks on livestock were recorded, an increase of 5%. And in Andorra, 11 bear signs were recorded, including the first video images taken in the Principality. Only two attacks on people since 1996. The report indicates that between 1996 and 2022, 1,130 visual observations of bears were validated in the French Pyrenees alone, 62% between May and August. Upon detecting a person, 58% fled, 26% moved without running, 11% were indifferent, 3% remained vigilant and only 2% expressed aggression (growling, intimidation…). There were only two physical attacks with non-fatal bites, both from bears with cubs that were surprised by a big game hunt with dogs.
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