In Medieval times a large bear population existed in the entire mountain range along the Spanish-French border, which over time, however, broke up into individual core groups. Today only seven pairs are left in the western Pyrenees. Their range covers the Aspe and Ossau Valleys on the French side and the adjoining Aragón and Navarra regions on the Spanish side. Similar to the last remaining bears in the Brenta region, in the Italian Trentino, they have not been reproducing for years.
A project is now underway which aims to release bears from Slovenia in the Pyrenees, at great expense. The 'new' bears do not only meet goodwill. The communities, especially those on the Spanish side, have not sufficiently been involved in the reintroduction project. Hence it is not surprising that the Pyrenean bears have to deal not only with the loss of their habitats but also with acceptance issues from the human side. It is too early to say whether the Pyrenees will once again become a thriving habitat for bears.