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Video: Wild wolf spotted in Brittany for first time in 109 years
The predators returned to France in the early 1990s and have slowly been spreading out around the country
A static camera has captured footage of a wild wolf wandering through a forest in Finistère in Brittany, the first time the animal has been sighted in the region since 1913.
The last wolf known to be living in the area was shot and killed in the Côtes-d’Armor 109 years ago.
The video was captured by a camera set up by regional wildlife association Bretagne vivante.
It wrote in a Facebook post that it is normal behaviour for wolves to break off from their pack and wander alone to establish new territories in what is known as ‘dispersal’. This usually happens twice a year, in spring and autumn.
Wolves in France were killed off by 1937, but gradually began returning in the early 1990s, entering the country from Italy.
They first settled in the Mercantour national park in the southeast of the country, before starting to recolonise the Alps, the southern areas of the Massif Central, the eastern Pyrenees and even some areas in the northeast.
Last year, a first wolf was spotted in the Ile-de-France region.
The reintroduction of wolves to France is widely celebrated by wildlife associations, but is controversial among farmers with livestock.
Wolves are a protected species.
Read more: Bloody wolf corpse left hanging in front of Mairie in southeast France
Wolf sightings can be reported to the departmental division of France’s Office of Biodiversity (L’Office français de la biodiversité).
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