France Backs Cross-Border Plan to Track Wolves and Bears in the Pyrenees

The Office français de la biodiversité (OFB), France’s national biodiversity agency, has presented LoupO Coexistence as an institutional framework for improving the management of the grey wolf and the brown bear in the transboundary Pyrenees.

The European project, launched at the beginning of 2026, will run until 31 December 2028. Its aim is to provide technical, scientific and social tools to help large carnivores coexist with human activities in mountain areas shared by France, Spain and Andorra.

According to information published by the OFB, the programme is built around three main areas: population monitoring, prevention of attacks, and analysis of social coexistence. Both species have a cross-border dimension in the Pyrenees, where their presence directly affects mountain livestock farming, beekeeping, hunting, tourism and the management of protected natural areas.

Non-invasive monitoring and new technical tools

One of the main goals of LoupO Coexistence is to improve knowledge of brown bear and grey wolf populations through non-invasive techniques. The OFB cites the use of genetics, artificial intelligence applied to camera-trap images, diet analysis and health monitoring to strengthen the scientific evidence available to public authorities and land managers.

The project starts from very different realities for the two species. For the brown bear, the OFB refers to an established breeding population in the central Pyrenees and an emerging breeding population in the western sector.

For the wolf, the agency describes a more occasional presence linked to dispersing individuals, detected mainly in the Pyrenean foothills and in the eastern and central Pyrenees. The French source adds that in 2025 the eastern part of the mountain range recorded the first recent case of a wolf pair with successful reproduction after a century of absence.

Preventing damage and supporting local mediation

The second pillar of the project focuses on reducing attacks on extensive mountain livestock farming and beekeeping. Measures cited include improving the use of livestock guardian dogs, training farmers and shepherds, producing technical manuals, studying acoustic deterrent systems, and improving procedures for damage assessment and management.

The social dimension is also central to the project. LoupO Coexistence plans to study how wolves and bears are perceived by Pyrenean communities through participatory forums, exchanges of experience and specific work on social acceptance.

The approach does not remove the conflict, but it does show that public authorities are trying to refine tools for monitoring, prevention and mediation in a rural landscape where the presence of large carnivores remains a source of tension.

The project is coordinated by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). According to the university, partners include the OFB, La Pastorale Pyrénéenne and the Antagene laboratory in France, as well as Catalan organisations and participating bodies from Andorra, Aragon, Aran, Occitania and Catalan nature reserves.

The programme is co-financed by European funds through Interreg POCTEFA, which supports cooperation along the Spain-France-Andorra border.