The presence of a wolf confirmed in Brittany, a first for a century

• A wolf was filmed on Wednesday in the town of Berrien in the Monts d'Arrée (Finistère).

• This is a first for a century in Brittany, the last individual having been killed in 1913.

• The return of the wolf to Brittany has been stirring discussions for several years now.

We knew that the wolf was at the gates of Brittany because individuals had been identified in nearby departments such as Loire-Atlantique, Calvados or Vendée.

Its presence is now confirmed in the region.

On Wednesday, a large canine was filmed by an automatic camera in the town of Berrien in the Arrée mountains, said the Finistère prefecture on Thursday in a press release.

This is a “first for more than a century”, specify the authorities.

At the end of the 19th century, the wolf disappeared from the region, eradicated by hunters and the population.

The last reported individual would have been killed in 1913 in Tréméven in the Côtes-d'Armor.

One hundred and ten years later, the wolf is back in Brittany.

However, the authorities are cautious.

“At this stage, this observation in Finistère does not make it possible to affirm that the wolf settles in the department, they indicate.

The capitalization of information over time is necessary to assess the evolution of the situation”.

An individual in the dispersal phase

The observation of a single individual far from areas of confirmed presence characterizes wolves in the dispersal phase.

This happens regularly in the spring, when subadult wolves that cannot breed within packs leave their natal territory in search of a mate.

They can then travel several hundred kilometers before staying several months in a sector before leaving it.

“The speed of movement and the discretion of this species from one point to another means that it can easily go unnoticed along its dispersal route”, underlines the prefecture of Finistère.

The wolf cannot "settle permanently" in Brittany

The return of the wolf has been stirring conversations in Brittany for several years now.

In early 2018, the Wolf Observatory, an association of volunteers bringing together naturalists and geographers, announced a return of canis lupus lupus from 2020 in the Breton regions.

A thesis then defeated by François de Beaulieu, author of numerous works on nature in Brittany.

" This is not serious.

Some individuals could of course reach Brittany, they have the biological possibility.

But Brittany does not offer enough food resources or large spaces for the wolf to settle there permanently, ”he confided to

.

Contacted, the fox and the weasel have not yet reacted to this return of the wolf to Brittany.

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