Poll: 9 out of 10 French people in favour of bears
Bears are now hibernating peacefully after a turbulent summer marked by scare shots fired indiscriminately by the State. But this tranquillity is short-lived, as the threat of their downgrading looms ever larger, appealing to certain European politicians. Will these animals be the next victims of the lobbies? Nothing can satisfy the thirst for plundering nature and biodiversity of farmers and hunters who relentlessly harass wildlife. Some even cause the death of animals. Yet, like us, the majority of French people are in favour of their presence. This is shown by the Ipsos poll carried out for One Voice on French people’s opinions of brown bears.
Stories influence our perception of bears without always reflecting reality!
The French are fairly divided on the image that stories convey of brown bears. It is, however, considered more positive (39%) than negative (29%). Women have a less positive view of the image of bears as conveyed by stories (33% say it is generally positive) than men (44%).
If, for half of French people, these stories, tales and legends do not influence their perception of bears (51%), it is undoubtedly because they are aware that these fictional representations of bears do not correspond to reality (64%). However, the majority of people under 35 say that these works of fiction have had an impact on their view of bears (62%), and they are also much more likely to believe that these representations correspond to reality (47% vs. 29% of people aged 60 and over).
Low levels of concern among the population, who perceive brown bears as essential to biodiversity
A very small minority of respondents feel anxious about brown bears. Only 23% fear their presence, with just 6% saying they are very concerned.
It is therefore not surprising that the French respondents overwhelmingly agree that the presence of bears in France does not pose a danger to themselves and their families (86%), particularly those over 60 (92%), even though a quarter of those under 35 say the opposite. This can notably be explained by the fact that they are aware that brown bears tend to flee from humans (77%).
Brown bears are important animals in the eyes of nearly nine out of ten French people
The latter agree that they play a key role in ecosystems (83%), and that they have a rightful place in the French nature (87%).
Quite logically, 85% of French people also consider that the return of brown bears to France is a real benefit for biodiversity.
Better protection of livestock by farmers is expected to facilitate coexistence with brown bears!
The French thus seem to have a high regard for bears. In fact, the majority of them believe that bears are not aggressive animals (52%) and that if they attack livestock, it is because the livestock is not protected (56%).
Nearly nine out of ten respondents say that farmers should be required to put protective measures in place for their livestock (87%) to prevent attacks by brown bears. Furthermore, 85% believe that compensation for farmers from public funds should be conditional on them implementing protective measures (human presence, enclosures, dogs, etc.).
The French believe that the reintroduction of brown bears in the Pyrenees could disrupt ecosystems and want to spare them from certain hunting practices.
Regarding the relocation of brown bears from abroad to France in order to reintroduce the species to the Pyrenees, the majority of French people (63%) say that this practice can be risky and may disrupt the balance of ecosystems.
The vast majority of French people, who are committed to the preservation of brown bears, say they want to ban the lethal shooting of species with poor conservation status (83%), which includes brown bears. At the same time, the majority of them say they want to ban scare shots against bears (65%), a practice that frightens bears in their natural environment.
The survey was conducted by Ipsos between 30 October and 4 November 2024 among 1,000 people, who constituted a nationally representative sample of the French population aged 18 to 75. The sample was surveyed online via Ipsos’ Access Panel Online (quota method: gender, age, occupation of the respondent, type of urban area, region).
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