Searching for hair and footprints, checking automatic cameras… In the Pyrenees, an organization allows hikers to contribute to research on the bear population while deepening their knowledge.
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Melles (Haute-Garonne), reportage
With the flash of his phone sweeping across the bark of an oak tree casting dancing shadows, Adrien Derousseau widens his eyes in search of the slightest clue. « Bingo ! exclaims the guide of the day, beaming. Ladies and gentlemen, I believe the bear has left us a little surprise. » At an altitude of 1,086 meters, on the heights of Melles, a small Occitan village with 85 inhabitants, the group inspects the find and smiles spread at the sight of a clump of dark hair.
From May to November, the Bear Country association organizes hikes on the trail of the ghost of these forests: the Pyrenean brown bear. The goal is to raise public awareness about this mammal, source of many myths, but also to participate in valuable scientific work. Collecting hairs, finding footprints, reviewing images recorded by automatic cameras… The tasks are too numerous, and the territory too vast, for the French Office for Biodiversity’s (OFB) “bear” team to monitor this large predator alone.
It’s barely 7 a.m. on June 21. Wearing a black beret and a gray-green shirt embroidered with the association’s emblem, Adrien Derousseau waits at the foot of the Crabère inn. The manager of the place, white tiaré petals tucked above her ear, finishes chatting with her guests and the assembly gathers—with a bit of delay. « Ready ? Let’s go », the guide announces.
In the ranks are two lovers who arrived the night before from Toulon, their accents as sharp as their cliffs. « The bear ? We hardly know it, says Florian. At home, it’s wolves… and recently, the golden jackal. » There are also two brothers with slender silhouettes—one studying veterinary medicine, the other an apprentice in the railway industry—having hit the road at dawn from Toulouse. Patrice and Charlotte are at the front of the pack. Sylvie and Marie-Noëlle, the elders, from Narbonne, at the back.
« The exploration routes are… airy, to say the least, almost impracticable for ordinary people, Adrien Derousseau announces right away. Don’t worry, we’ve created a more accessible educational path just for you. » However, there’s no time to dawdle. To reach these remote paths, where only 4 to 5 bears are captured by cameras each year, a few hours of effort await the day’s trackers.
The ascent has just begun when the guide pauses and watches his guests imprint their soles in a large mud puddle. Schplok-schplok. « I say, you should watch where you step, he teases. The search for clues starts right now. » Doubtful, Sylvie lets out an « Oh, this low ? » eliciting a smirk from her interlocutor. « Forget altitude. The bear isn’t a mountain mammal, but a forest one. It could live in Fontainebleau or in the Landes. » In the past, the giant even occupied the plains of France.
Nothing predestined Adrien Derousseau to become an expert in the field one day. « I grew up in Cambrai [North] », he says. « And it shows », Patrice teases him right back. Studying ecology in Lille, then in the Jura, he earned the coveted mountain guide credential. A birdwatching stop on Île Nouvelle in the Gironde estuary, and here he is in the Pyrenees, which he barely knew then. Ten years later, how many times has he encountered the bear ? « Zero, he says. Except at the zoo. However, I’m convinced that it has already watched me. It must be laughing at us trying to find it without ever succeeding. »
And if that encounter were to happen now, right here… « What would you do ? » he asks the group. « I’d run », Marie-Noëlle blurts out without hesitation. « As impressive as a big daddy of 300 kilos might be, remember one thing: we humans are not on the menu », Adrien Derousseau retorts. The shy mammal is more likely to vanish. Recently, a woman turned a corner and found herself face-to-face with the animal, continues the guide. « It was there, 3 meters from her. And she barely had time to realize it before the bear had already scooted off. »
Sometimes, the scenario is different. A young bear may succumb to curiosity in the face of this strange biped covered in fabrics. A female, accompanied by her cubs, might make a charge to intimidate and stop a few meters away. « And if she stands on her hind legs, don’t panic, he continues. Bears are nearsighted. It helps them smell you better and assess the danger. » Since 1996 and the first bear releases in the Pyrenees, only one accident has been recorded in France.
Final quiz of the morning: « Imagine a bear walking right here, just at your feet. Place your hand at the height of its back. » Some answers are so extravagant that a burst of laughter escapes the guide. « That’s the size of a horse ! Forget the scene where Leonardo DiCaprio faces a 3-meter bear in “The Revenant”. Your imaginations are deceiving you. » Placing his palm at thigh height, he adds: « In the Pyrenees, some bears are no bigger than a wild boar. »
Less agile than a herd of chamois, the small group now faces the steepest slopes of the old beech-fir forest. « We’re almost halfway », Adrien Derousseau repeats for the third time. « I don’t believe it anymore, retorts the woman from Narbonne. That only works with kids… And even then ! » Every excuse is good for justifying a short pit stop… Here, the parade of a black woodpecker ; there, the song of a hobby or the discovery of chanterelles. And finally, at the summit, the Holy Grail: the famous automatic-trigger camera.
The guide grabs the device hidden under the lichen, pulls out the SD card, and takes out a tablet from his bag: « Oh darn… There’s not much to see. » The images recorded during the previous fifteen days scroll on the screen. A deer, a chamois kid — young of the chamois —, but no bear in sight. Its fur is so thick that, sometimes, it escapes the thermal detectors, although they are supposed to be infallible.
Fortunately, Adrien Derousseau brought with him an archive from May 13. Around 8 p.m., right where the novice trackers are viewing the images, stood a fine specimen. « Wow ! »
The quest for clues continues on a small square of plowed land, called « revoir », marked by the bear’s footprints as it passes — it’s the oldest bear trap invented by humans. Not this time ! However, a clump of hair remains stuck in a piece of barbed wire screwed to the trunk of an oak tree. That of the forest ghost ? For sure.
Amandine, from Toulon, puts on a pair of gloves and places the precious DNA sample in the envelope on which Florian, her companion, adds the address of the OFB. With this data, the agency will conduct a large statistical survey in the fall: « A real-life Cluedo game », smiles Adrien Derousseau. All this, to obtain the famous estimate of the population: 104, last year.
On the way back, the guide still shares some anecdotes. Starting with the surprising ability of females to pause their gestation… until they enter hibernation: « Wow ! exclaims Charlotte. Does that mean that right now, some bears have a future cub in their belly and will wait until November to start the process ? » Adrien Derousseau nods. « As a result: she can even have embryos from different males in the same season », he adds.
They also discuss the growing threat of inbreeding and the unfair trial of the bear, orchestrated by some agricultural unions: « The biggest predator of sheep is the fly, the guide specifies. A small wound is enough for it to literally nibble the animal. The bear, on the other hand, is responsible for only 2 % of the losses. However, farmers are unlikely to demonstrate in front of prefectures against an insect. »
In the final steep climb separating them from the inn, bodies tire and faces tense: « Welcome to the cemetery climb, jokes Adrien Derousseau. Don’t worry, right after, there’s the beer descent. »
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[4 / 4] On the trail of the brown bear, ghost of the Pyrenees
Searching for hair and footprints, checking automatic cameras… In the Pyrenees, an organization allows hikers to contribute to research on the bear population while deepening their knowledge.