Overview
- The French biodiversity office’s annual report, published Thursday, puts the 2025 count at a minimum of 108 bears and confirms average growth of 11.53% a year since 2006.
- OFB analysts report increasing inbreeding and low genetic diversity, with early-life impacts that include smaller litters, shorter dispersal by young bears, and lower cub survival for the most inbred mothers.
- Scientists trace the genetic drain to a narrow founder base from a handful of Slovenian bears released in the 1990s, with an independent study estimating most of today’s animals descend from as few as three founders and noting no new releases since 2018.
- Advocates from Pays de l’Ours–Adet call for about 30 new bears by 2040 to rebuild the gene pool, and the French government expects findings from its own genetic study by the end of the year.
- Bear attacks on livestock fell to 289 in 2025 with two on beehives, yet hotspots such as Ariège still report heavy losses, keeping pressure on herders even as national totals stabilize.