Despite the fact that the Brown bear has been enjoying strict legal protection in Spain since 1973 it still happens that hunts for wild boar end with a dead bear. As yet hunters have been getting away with feeble excuses such as that they mistook the bear for a boar, or that they acted in self-defense. One would think a hunter should loose his licence if he can not tell a bear from a boar. To speak of 'aggressive' bears however, is completely ridiculous.  As a result of the continuous persecution the Spanish bears have become so shy that even the conservationists who know the bears' routes and regularly cover large areas on foot often don't sight a bear for months on end. Indeed, there is not a single record in Spain of a bear having attacked a human off its own bat. It is also of note that most of the bears which were shot in "self-defense" had bullet holes in their flanks and rear ends.

Whether it is bullets, poison or traps - some people go to any length to kill a bear. Over the past twenty years there have been 30 recorded bear killings by poachers.

The Spanish bears are not exactly terrifying. They are being killed because their coats attract high prices on the black market. Large sections of the general population still tolerate these killings because they themselves suffer losses as a result of damage done to apiaries, orchards and maize fields.