Plea for wolf cull as attacks rise
FARMERS in the Alps have called for tougher limits on the number of wolves in France, after a spate of savage attacks.
by PAUL McNALLY
Official figures suggest 1,300 animals – mostly sheep – have been killed by wolves this year. The state has paid out €365,000 in compensation to farmers.
The French wolf population has grown by an estimated 15% this year to about 200, roaming in about 20 packs. They are mostly in the French Alps but some have spread west to the Auvergne, north to the Vosges and others have been seen in the Massif Central and Pyrenees.
Wolves were eradicated in the 1930s but made a comeback 20 years ago when a pair of Italian wolves crossed the border into the Mercantour in the southeastern Alps.
They are a protected species under EU law and cannot be hunted – although the French authorities can allow the shooting of up to six wolves a year if they are considered particularly dangerous and all other means of protection have failed.
In practice, only four wolves have been killed since the code came into force in 2004. A rare licence was issued in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in July after a spate of attacks, believed to have been carried out by a lone wolf.
In one case, 10 sheep were killed by the animal and another 60 died in a stampede. Some of the wolves appear to be particularly fearless, attacking in broad daylight, in full view of farmers.
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence president, Jean-Louis Blanco, a former president of the Office National des Forêts, told local radio station Alpes 1: “The wolf is no longer an endangered species. The shepherds and their flocks are the endangered species.”
Yves Derbez, who represents 350 shepherds in the department, agreed and said: “We have to take effective measures now before sheep farming disappears altogether.”
Shepherds will this month submit a petition to environment minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet calling for the hunting rules to be relaxed. Environmental group Ferus, however, says more can be done by farmers to protect their flocks.
Rural historian Jean-Marc Moriceau, who has written extensively on the problem with wolves, said the government should set up a “wolf council” bringing together shepherds, ecologists and ministers, to find a better way of protecting wildlife and keeping the wolf population down.
