Western Europe is very slowly getting its bear population back, and the number of brown bears in the French Pyrenees continues to increase, environmentalists say. The Pyrenees, a hiker-friendly mountain range along the French-Spanish border known for its castles, lush landscapes and well-kept trails, is also gaining a reputation as a bear-spotting region. Within the space of a year, the number of bears detected in the mountain range has increased to 70 (a rise of 9%), according to the French Environment Ministry. The ministry’s Brown Bear Network says that in 1995, there were less than a dozen…