Livestock farmers denounce the other side of the brown bear's recovery in the Pyrenees

BarcelonaEvery new brown bear counted in the Pyrenees is a success for the conservation of the species. It is also a cause for concern for Catalan farmers. It is the largest carnivore living in the country and a protected species that was reintroduced in 1996. Since then, the population has continued to grow and, according to the latest data, there are already 54 established specimens in the Catalan Pyrenees. Its diet is mostly vegetarian, based on herbs, fruits, and roots, but they also eat meat. It is this occasional behavior that worries farmers in Pallars Sobirà, because bears sometimes attack their flocks.

This is the case of Marcel Ticó, a farmer from Lladorre (in the Vall de Cardós), who explains that this problem dates back twenty years. He has a flock of about 70 cows and, in less than a month, has lost two to the bears' claws. Furthermore, he cannot locate two more, and he thinks it is likely that they have also suffered an attack by these animals. In recent years, he estimates to have lost about 40 cows and horses. Nevertheless, the farmer explains that without government certification they cannot claim compensation.

In his case, only 10 have been certified by the Department of Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition, responsible for managing the presence of bears and certifying attacks. This certification is a key requirement to be able to collect the compensation that the Generalitat provides for damages caused by protected fauna. In conversation with ARA, Ticó explains that, even if the carcasses show physical marks of scratches or bites compatible with a bear attack, it is a challenge for the department's technicians to end up certifying it.

A bureaucratic nightmare

The procedures for receiving compensation have also been criticized by Jordi Marxant and Joan Aura, shepherds from the village of Isil, in the Alt Àneu. Last week, Joan Aura found two of the four sheep he had sleeping in the field dead and another seriously injured. “They had all their skin torn off and two holes in their ribs,” he details.

Despite reporting the events, the Rural Agents told him that the brown fur samples found near the corpses would not be analyzed until September. “It can take up to six months for us to have the report from the Rural Agents stating whether there has been a bear attack,” he laments. Aura also found two dead mares two weeks ago, one of them with a large opening in its neck and another in its stomach. "More evidence than this, I don't think they'll find," he complained.

According to the experience of all three farmers, the process does not end once the report certifying the carnivore attack is received: compensation also takes time to arrive. The Generalitat states that in 2025 it allocated nearly 12,530 euros in compensation for livestock attacks in Catalonia. Despite this, of the 10 deaths that Ticó managed to have certified, he has only been compensated for one.

Furthermore, and even though the Generalitat's regulation stipulates that the sum of compensation must be adjusted to the market price of the livestock, Jordi Marxant explains that the money he has received does not cover 70% of its real value. Like Ticó, he has only managed to collect for one, which, moreover, arrived "almost three years late." "I lost a lamb that I could have sold for Christmas for about 150 euros," and he estimates that the compensation he receives – "if it arrives" – will not reach 100 euros.

Sources consulted from the Department of Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition assure that their main objective is to “minimize the damage caused by the brown bear” and “ensure coexistence between herds and protected species”. This 2026, the Generalitat has allocated nearly 210,000 euros to offer prevention measures. For example, the creation of sheep and goat herd clusters in the villages of Isil, Tavascan, and Estaron – areas of permanent bear presence – during the grazing season, permanent surveillance by subcontracted shepherds and the installation of an electrified security fence, as well as livestock guardian dogs.

"The primary sector is on the verge of death"

However, farmers are dissatisfied with these measures: "We feel abandoned", they agree to report to ARA. Because the problem of the brown bear is not only focused on loss of heads, but also limits the work of farmers.

The livestock spends the winter in stables, but in summer the shepherds move it to the mountains. It is between the months of May and October when most attacks occur. But the threat of the presence of bears may force farmers to leave the flock grazing in the valley and it decreases. "If this happens, the business will cease to be profitable for many farmers", says Ticó, who concludes: "The primary sector is on the verge of death". 

In fact, the primary sector, despite being a key area for the country's economy, has already suffered a decline in employment and the number of farms in recent years. Fattening cattle farms, for example, have decreased by 7% since 2017.