The prefect of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, in charge of the wolf file, presented Tuesday new measures of aid against the attacks of wolves, without unanimity among the breeders and protectors of this protected species.
The threshold of 500 adults exceeded
At a meeting of the "national group wolf and breeding activities" in Lyon, the National Office for Hunting and Wildlife (ONCFS) confirmed that the number of wolves in France had exceeded the threshold of 500 adults to the release of winter, without giving the exact figure, which should be known early June, according to participants interviewed by AFP. This number corresponds to the minimum threshold of demographic viability of the "Canis lupus" classified vulnerable on the French red list of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The current wolf plan was to reach it in 2023.
The return of the wolf, which had been eradicated in the Hexagon in the 1930s, requires public authorities and breeders to relearn how to coexist with this predator. In 2018, 3,674 attacks were made against more than 12,500 animals, mainly sheep. These attacks are concentrated on the Alpes-Maritimes, the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Savoy. The government has decided to raise the percentage of wolves that can be killed from a range of 10-12% to 17-19%, as announced in March by Emmanuel Macron.
What the state provides
The state is currently funding protection measures in predation zones (electrified parks, dogs, guarding by shepherds). There are two types of zones depending on the frequency of attacks. It is planned to add a third, a "circle 0", with the possibility of permanent guarding of herds by shepherds, firing of defense by three people and "to authorize the shooting of (...) as soon as the level of predation is no longer acceptable ", according to a document consulted by AFP.
The State has also planned to demarcate a difficult area to protect, in Aveyron, Tarn, Hérault and Lozère, with the possibility of firing of defense without preliminary setting up of protective measures.
Breeders as protectors not totally convinced
Claude Font, of the National Sheep Federation (FNO), hailed the increased possibility of shooting against wolves, but protested against a "differentiated management".
For Marie-Paule Thiersant of the League for the Protection of Birds (LPO), who also defends the wolves, by facilitating shooting, "we enter a process of regulation of the species", which in his eyes is contradictory with protected species status at French and European level. "The state seems totally focused on the effectiveness of the shots," says Bertrand Sicard of the association Ferus, responsible for the defense of large predators, which requires a study on their effectiveness.