Around 100 mayors and other officials from towns on the French side of the Pyrenees mountains protested on Tuesday demanding removal of all bears, saying the re-introduction of the predators has threatened shepherds' livelihoods.

Shepherds and farmers have been up in arms since the government brought in two more brown bears from Slovenia last October, the latest since France began to re-populate around 20 years ago a species that had been hunted to the brink of extinction.

Around 50 bears now roam the mountains that separate France and Spain, mainly in the Ariege region.

Around 640 sheep have been killed this year, mostly after plunging off cliffs while trying to flee bears.

AFP