Tragic. What's even more distressing is how few column inches are given to this story and how quickly the media spotlight passes on.

As a regular newspaper reader (but admittedly casual environmentalist) I stumbled on this story and like Skipy it was the first i really knew of the Pyrenean Brown Bear.

What of the cub? Being wildly optimistic and assuming it's a female could the species by reintroduced with the help of Slovenian bears? And if Cannelle was the only native female does that mean there are still females but only of none native origin (presumably Slovenian) or are there just males? And if so, why were only male bears introduced leaving the species in such a precarious situation?

Sadly I imagine there will be no follow up stories in british broadsheet press. I'll be scouring the web for news..

P.s. The Self-defence line is shameless.