Bears

Bears in the Pyrenees: the double punishment…

Victims of hunters and breeders, the brown bears had disappeared from our mountains.
At the end of the 1990s, individuals from Slovenia were introduced to repopulate the Pyrenees. Torn from their native soil, they underwent the stress of being transported by helicopter and had to learn to live far from their relatives in an unfamiliar environment.
A few years later, there are still not enough bears to ensure their survival: the latest count, dated 2022, puts the number at 76, well short of the viability threshold of 110.
Persona non grata, the bears have not only been forced into exile, but are now the target of scare shots and constant harassment.

… and some resounding victories

Flashballs, rocket-propelled grenades… These appalling weapons are used against them at any time. They can no longer move around their own territory without risking being chased and injured! A source of intense stress, these shots can cause hearing damage, separate cubs from their mothers and even cause miscarriages. One Voice refuses this double punishment. Two years in a row, in 2022 and 2023, the association led emergency legal marathons to prevent these scare shots. And they succeeded. The courts ruled in our favour each time.

In India: a 360° victory for “dancing” bears

Poached, torn from their mothers, with their snouts pierced with tin and a rope that hurts for life, lippus bears, an endemic Indian species, had been illegally exploited for 400 years for “dancing” in India. It took us seven years to change the course of their destiny. But the joint work we carried out with our partners, Wildlife SOS, Free the Bears and International Animal Rescue, paid off in the end. More than 620 bears have been rescued and placed in the safety of our sanctuaries in India. There, we also created the Forestwatch anti-poaching unit.

This rescue could not be complete without a global approach to the problem. In addition to Forestwatch’s work, carried out in collaboration with government agencies and the police wildlife department, the Kalandar bear handlers who exploited the bears were integrated into a rehabilitation programme to help them retrain. As a result, the children have been able to go to school, the women have benefited from vocational training and everyone has health cover.

In Asia: investigations that are helping to change attitudes

Our fight for the bears also took us to Vietnam, where we worked alongside bears exploited on farms for their bile, a pseudo-remedy sold at a premium. Placed in captivity in tiny cages, the cubs were drugged and mutilated. We pleaded their cause to the public and to the highest levels of government. Vietnam put an end to these practices in 2022.
In 2008, when the Olympic Games were being organised, the eyes of the whole world were on China. One Voice seized this opportunity to turn the spotlight on zoos and reveal the sordid conditions in which animals are kept, particularly bears. In China, One Voice is contributing to the Caring For Life programme initiated by ACTAsia, which teaches children in Chinese primary schools to protect and care for animals.