Popular with conservationists, Parisians and France's first lady, brown bears have been reintroduced to the Pyrenees and infuriated sheep farmers - and their claws are out.

Softly spoken and charming, François Arcangeli is an unlikely recipient of death threats. Nor does Arbas - the tranquil and somewhat forlorn village tucked away in the foothills of the French Pyrenees 50 miles east of Lourdes where Arcangeli has been the mayor for 13 years - seem a likely location for violent demonstrations.

The cause of this unrest are brown bears.