It’s time for the annual report for the French population of gray wolves. At the end of winter 2021-2022, their number is now estimated at around 921 individuals, announced the prefect of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Monday June 27. More specifically, the range of adult wolves, a protected species in Europe, is estimated between 826 and 1,016 in France, said the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB), the body in charge of this estimate.
The wolf is a wild animal living over large areas and its population cannot therefore be counted precisely. Estimates are therefore based on various indices (visual observation, footprints, droppings, etc.). The OFB trains people in the field to collect them and join a network of correspondents. A training effort was made, with 385 new people, which made it possible to increase the number of clues collected, to “4,500 presence indices (compared to 2,600 in 2020 and 3,700 in 2021)”specifies the prefect.
The gray wolf population was estimated at 783 for 2020-2021, compared to 624 individuals in a first estimate, then refined by the OFB through the analysis of genetic results. The maximum number of wolves that can be killed in 2022 will therefore be 174 individuals, compared to 118 initially planned. Since January 1, 29 wolves have already “have been deducted from this ceiling”specifies the prefect, in charge of the cohabitation of this natural predator with livestock.
>> Tarn: wolf attacks worry breeders
Other measures are planned to support breeders and limit attacks on herds: funding for guard dogs, electrified parks, guarding by shepherds. Compensation is provided for in the event of attacks. This resulted “for the first time, (on) a drop in predation in France both in number of attacks and predated animals”while remaining at a high level.
/2022/06/27/phpZsgP2A.png)
The gray wolf, which has returned to France on its own from Italy and is mainly present in the Alpine and Provençal massifs, has experienced favorable demographic dynamics for ten years, with “a satisfactory survival rate for the species and an increase in reproduction”, according to the press release. He was seen as far away as Finistère.