French fishermen to hunt rare shark

French fishermen will be on the hunt for a vulnerable shark species off the coast of the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion soon and will pocket government cash for their kills after a rise in deadly attacks pushed Paris to take unprecedented measures.

Financial incentives will come into force as early as next week and the bounty has provoked an outcry from animal rights groups that call it legalised "extermination".

The sharks to be targeted are bull sharks, widely believed to be behind several recent attacks on people.