by Georges Gonzalez, Doctor in behavioural biology at the mammal research institute, INRA. Member of the Midi-Pyrenees regional science council.

		Present on every continent, large wild animals have suffered from industrialization, which has driven them up into the heights, the only areas remaining relatively free from intense human activity. They have beaten a retreat in the face of a human tide submerging lower lands which are easier to clear for cultivation and to urbanize. In the Pyrenees, walkers wishing to make memorable encounters must head for the steep slopes..

Even then, it will not be easy for inexperienced walkers to spot typical species. Even the wild boar, widespread throughout the range, is "shy" for its own safety. After the last war, the proliferation of firearms practically condemned nearly all the wild animals from which a good stew could be made! In the 1950s, both hunters and protection agencies - each in their own way - tried to right the situation. Game was released and reserves set aside, allowing the red deer, izard and European mouflon to recolonize certain areas. The latter descends from domestic sheep abandoned by man and quickly running wild again. They may be seen quite near human dwellings around the Puymaurens pass and in the Pibeste massif, Haute-Pyrénées.

The ibex was a victim of its own indolence. Only prehistoric cave drawings witness to its presence in the Pyrenees. Too confident in its rock-climbing abilities, which worked for wolves and bears, it could not resist years of hunting and poaching. The last remaining female lives in the Spanish national reserve at Ordessa. Blazed trails will first take you through low forests. Here, the early-morning visitor may catch a glimpse of grass-eating boar, red deer and roe deer. The smaller roe deer is often confused with the female of the larger red deer. These wild herbivores are the species of large mammals developing the most at present.

Roe deer, originally from the plain, have already populated mountain forests and can be seen on the grasslands near mountain tops. The best time to watch them is during the breeding season, when they throw caution to the winds in order to mate. The least prudent during this period is the red deer. Some stags mark their presence and try to attract females by leaving the forest in broad daylight to bell loudly. Roe deer are more likely to remain hidden amongst the trees. You may, however, hear a bark which reveals the deer's anxiety on discovering an intruder on its territory. In August, it could be the bark of a male courting a female. Even as you stand amongst the thinning trunks - some of which may be scored by antler marks - you will see the mountain tops beckoning you on. You will have to cross heath and grassland before reaching the mineral kingdom where rocks and cliffs stand guard over the peaks, a mineral kingdom without life. Make no mistake though, for the limits of living creatures are beyond us. The most patient, or luckiest, of us may notice brown spots moving among the rocks: an izard heading up to safer heights.

But the izard eating a tiny plant in the crack of a rock at a mountain pass some 2,500 metres high, may have spent all winter and spring in a dark beech or pine forest providing protection from the snow. Some park wardens even know of some males who rarely leave the woods, except for two or three weeks in the autumn to court females on the mountain pastures. The izard's reputation of a proud but shy mountain-top "antelope" is only the consequence of heavy human pressure which drove wild animals away from the best feeding grounds, reserved for domestic flocks. Anthropologists have found in the remains of hunting camps proof that izards and ibex used to roam much further down the mountains when they had only wolf, lynx and the arrows of neolithic hunters to fear. The trees harbour other creatures far more mythical and mysterious than deer...

The lynx is a stealthy animal which signs its hunt by regular canine teeth marks in its prey. Though probably still at large, experience shows that the best protection is often based on seclusion and silence... While the wolf is not an "official" inhabitant of the Pyrenees today, experts believe it is only a matter of time. A single wolf was spotted after crossing over from the Spanish side and killed soon after. Wolves still inspire fear in mankind's subconscious. This fear is waning in urban areas but growing in the regions they are beginning to colonize again.

The return of the wolf recalls certain facts about the natural world. Unlike bears, which enjoy plants at certain periods, wolves are carnivorous and must kill to live. We don't like sharing with other meat-eaters, especially when the stakes are as much financial as emotional. Who would criticise a shepherd for liking his sheep? Yet a wolf out hunting would not turn aside from an unguarded flock in what the wolf considers its own territory.

The bear, a more likeable creature in the popular imagination, is even today present in the Pyrenees. The eastern population (Haute-Garonne) is the result of the release of 2 female and one male bear from Slovania. After some births, this population exceeds that of the original Pyrenean bears that are trying to survive between the Aspe and Ossau valleys. Yet for the locals, the problems that arise are similar to those created by the wolf population in the Alps. Should the omnivorous bear come across an unguarded flock during the period in which it is eating meat, the encounter will no doubt end in bloodshed. On reaching the top, the tired but happy walker can think of all the encounters made on the way. The early start was worth it. The forests, mountain pastures and scree still keep their mysterious secrets, but it has been possible to share a few of them during the walk up.