2019 was marked by precise management of the National Action Plan (PNA) which helped stabilize the level of attacks
, wrote in a statement the prefecture of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, responsible for the management of the wolf at the national level.
Even if this level remains Student
, the number of animals receiving compensation has stabilized since 2017 at around 12,500 per year
. However, the prefecture recognizes for 2019 a geographic extension
attacks that took place in 35 departments, compared to 33 in 2018.
Four “sample” shots in 2019
This stabilization has been achieved thanks in particular to the testing of new shooting conditions.
, advanced the prefecture. The shootings are now focused on wolves in attack
. In 2019, there were 4 so-called shots of sample
and 90 during herd attacks
.
According to the prefecture, this supervision also made it possible to respect the quota of wolves that could be slaughtered in 2019 (initially set at 90, then at 100).
This ceiling raised in September for the year 2019 had sparked protests from several organizations defending wildlife.
580 adult wolves
The prefecture, which plans to issue new shooting orders next fall, has suggested maintaining a wolf shooting ceiling at 19% of the estimated population at the end of winter, allowing the continuation of simple defense shots beyond within a limit of 2% of the estimated population
.
According to the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB), the population of gray wolves in France is today estimated at 580 adult wolves, against 530 a year earlier, but the rate of progression of this endangered species has slowed compared to 2019, the reasons still to be studied.
A year ago, the adult population had increased by 100 individuals, passing the 500 mark.
The wolf plan adopted in 2018 predicted that this threshold would not be reached until 2023. It corresponds to the ability of a population in the medium term (100 years) to resist the risk of extinction
.
These carnivores, eradicated by humans in the 1930s and returned naturally by Italy in the 1990s, are concentrated in the Alps, the Southeast and the East. A specimen has been observed in January in Charente, for the first time in a century, as well asin April in Normandy.
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