Specialized team deployed in the Ardennes to shoot down a wolf

A breeder, who has lost several animals since May, has been authorized to slaughter the animal, but a team including hunters will take care of it.

A specialized team to shoot a wolf will be deployed in the Ardennes, the department’s prefecture announced to France Bleu Champagne-Ardenne on Wednesday, September 11. This decision was taken after the State authorized a breeder, based in Briquenay, near Vouziers, to shoot the animal to kill it.

Since May 9, this breeder, who wishes to remain anonymous, has lost two sheep and five cattle. On September 2, the prefecture published an order to this effect. But since this sheep and cattle breeder does not hold a hunting license, he does not have the right to shoot the wolf himself. The prefect has therefore decided for the first time in the department to deploy a specialized team to take care of it.

This team is made up of two hunter shooters, four wolf lieutenants and an agent from the French Biodiversity Office. They will take turns in the evening, equipped with night vision goggles, around the farm in question, to track down the wolf and kill it. “This animal appears to have deviant behavior“, justifies Christophe Fradier, departmental director of the Ardennes territories (DDT). “He does not consume most of the animals he kills.”

For his part, Ludovic Beaurain, administrator of the Federation of Ardennes Sheep Breeders and mayor of Villers-Devant-Mouzon, deplores a decision that came too late. For him, the solution is not necessarily to kill the animal; he prefers to opt for its capture and placement in parks. For the Ferus network, which defends large predators, exterminating the wolf is not the solution either. Its representative in the Ardennes, Guy Castelain, calls instead for “educate” the animal. He recommends scaring it away with rubber bullets.