Slovenia's Forestry Institute began on Saturday the hunt for five brown bears which will be relocated to the French Pyrenees, with the transfer of four females and one male to be completed by late August.
The bears will be caught in the region surrounding Mount Sneznik and the town of Kocevje (both in the south). Moreover, a one year-old cub, named Cupa, will be transported from the Ljubljana Zoo to France in the autumn.
Cupa, who was born at the zoo, cannot remain at her mother's side and will therefore be moved to Parc de Courzieu, a zoo near Lyon.
The relocation of the bears is based on an agreement signed last September by Slovenian Environment Minister Janez Podobnik and French Minister for Ecology and Sustainable Development Nelly Olin. In line with the agreement, France will cover the costs of the entire project.
In the past week, representatives of local French communities visited Slovenia to get acquainted with Slovenia's experience on cohabitation between man and bear and to transfer it to the farmers in the area where the bears are to be released.
The animals will join between 14 to 18 bears already living in the Pyrenees, replacing three bears that died between 1994 and 2004.
This is the fourth batch of bears from Slovenia being relocated to other European countries: in 1993 they were moved to Austria, in 1996 and 1997 to France and in 1999 and 2000 to Italy.
The Forestry Institute estimates Slovenia's brown bear population at between 500 and 700.
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