From Reporter Issue 105  

Environment Minister Serge Lepeltier put his finger on an essential point: “It’s an intrusion of nature at its wildest into the heart of our modern society.” It is extraordinary, when you think about it, that in a part of France that now draws most of its income from high tech industry the presence of a handful of wolves should become a major issue. For most of us the wolf belongs in the realm of folk-tales. But over the past thirteen years lupus canis has made a come-back in France. No more than a couple, maybe, crossed over from Italy a little more than a decade ago, and now around four dozen are living in southern departments and slowly spreading into new areas. The Alpes-Maritimes is host, it’s estimated, to a score of these undesirable immigrants.

There’s no danger to man. The problem with wolves is their enthusiasm for dining off raw mutton. Last year some 2200 sheep died in France as a result of the activities of these animals: 267 separate attacks were recorded in the Alpes-Maritimes. Shepherds are enraged as their livelihood is literally eaten away. But we live in an age where criminals as well as victims have to be considered. Says Minister Lepeltier, “This is a question not only for sheep farmers but also for those who care about biodiversity.” Remember the wolf is a protected species and can’t be killed just like that.

Recently, amid much huffing and puffing among “ecologists”, permission was given to cull … four wolves in the whole of southern France. This didn’t satisfy the shepherds. As one man told a local radio station, “It’s nonsense … if any of these buggers gets near my flock I’ll be ready with my gun.” A spokesman for the Office National de la Chasse was quick to reply: “We are determined to safeguard our wolves. Anyone who unlawfully kills them will go to court.” Confrontation seems inevitable.

© Riviera Reporter 

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