The presence of the wolf on French territory has been authenticated since 1992. However, it had been eradicated just before the Second World War.
Since then, this wild canine has greatly extended its territory.
To the point of approaching the west of France.
Spotted on May 14 in Jard-sur-Mer, Vendée, less than 200 km from administrative Brittany, will the wolf go as far as migrating further north? Possible. Even the most skeptical call for preparations for the imminent arrival of this large predator in the region. For the Wolf Observatory, a website created in 2013, the case has been heard. The wolf has been present since “December 2011” in Brittany with “five dispersal zones” in the region, according to its founder Jean-Luc Valérie, animal photographer living in Alsace, who says he is based on a hundred clues collected by volunteers .
Its advertisements, disputed by the authorities, regularly give rise to articles in the local press.
But Jean-Luc Valérie, who scolds "incompetence" and "the lies" of his opponents, finds himself alone crying wolf.
" This is not serious !
», Denounces Jean-François Darmstaedter, president of Ferus, a national association for the protection of wolves.
“At the Wolf Observatory, they see wolves everywhere.
Soon, they will see some on the Place de l'Étoile in Paris!
He jokes.
In a rare unanimity with the environmental associations, the hunters approve the report.
"We have nothing, not even suspicion," one explains to the Regional Federation of Hunters.
"Not my fantasies"
And in fact, for the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB), which is a benchmark in this area, “there is no proven presence in Brittany”.
"The wolf arouses a lot of fantasies", explains Franck Varagnat, wolf correspondent for the OFB in Brittany, who worked for 20 years on the big canine in the Alps.
To certify the presence of the predator, the OFB relies on several types of clues: photos taken by camera traps, analysis of prey found dead, and genetic tests on excrement or urine.
"As soon as an information comes back to us, it is systematically exploited", assures Franck Varagnat, who points to the "lack of scientific rigor" of the Wolf Observatory.
"For the moment, in Brittany, we have no genetic evidence of the presence of the wolf," he says.
Part of the confusion arguably stems from the wolf's resemblance to certain species of dog, such as the Czechoslovakian wolfdog or the Saarloos wolfdog, several cases of which have been reported in the region.
“Nothing looks more like a wolf than a wolf dog.
Myself, I was wrong, ”confirms Jean-François Darmstaedter.
"Tomorrow, in 10 years ..."
The last wolf shot in the Armorican massif would have been shot in 1913 in Tréméven, in the Côtes d'Armor.
The species was then considered to have been eradicated at the national level in 1937, before a pair of wolves was observed in the Mercantour park (Alpes-Maritimes) in 1992. The population of this protected species is now estimated at between 414 and 834 individuals, with a presence detected as far as Normandy and in the Center-Val-de-Loire.
A discreet animal, which can travel several hundred kilometers in a few days, the wolf can be difficult to detect, even if the multiplication of camera traps leaves it little escape.
A wolf from northern Germany was recently shot in the Vosges, more than 600 km from its birthplace.
When will he return to Brittany?
“It could be tomorrow, in 10 years or in 15 years,” says Franck Varagnat.
To prepare for this step, the naturalists from the Bretagne Vivante association and the GMB have created a site (loup.bzh) intended to "provide the population with solid, serious and verifiable information".
“We know that the wolf will come back.
People need psychological preparation, ”explains Jean-Noël Ballot, member of Bretagne Vivante and member of Groupe Loup Bretagne.
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