Wolf Attacks Have Shepherds Fearing for Their Flocks

Previous attacks happened in 2009 and 2010 but were much less severe than this weeks incidents.

In two separate herds in the Alpes de Haute Provence area near Montclar, shepherds have reported several deaths and missing animals over the start of this week. In the hamlet of L'Adroit in Pontis, close to the shores of Lake Serre-Poncon, Vincent Saunier discovered 10 animals had been killed in an attack early on Tuesday morning. 2 other animals were wounded and 21 had disappeared, it is assumed that they must have run off in the panic or been taken by the wolves. The farmer is convinced that it was a wolf attack having seen similar injuries from previous attacks and knowing that there is a wolf pack living in the area above Serre-Poncon.

There is the obvious fear now that the predators will return, and Saunier has stated that he thinks there may be at least 2 or maybe even 3 wolves involved.

The first return of the canis lupus italicus (or common grey wolf) to France was recorded back in 1992 when 2 wolves appeared to have made their way over the Italian Alps to the Mercantour National Park in the Alpes de Haute Provence. Since then the population has been growing steadily and has caused numerous rows between animal rights protesters and the farmers and shepherds of the regions effected.

Fresh arguments broke out in 2011 when there was a call for a cull as wolf numbers were on the rise and spreading further into France, and the number of confirmed wolf attacks was also on the rise. Pro-wolf groups and specifically Jean-Marc Moriceau, a wolf expert and the author of Men Versus Wolves, said: "We should organise a wolf parliament, bringing together shepherds, ecologists and government... We need a way of protecting flocks and managing the wolf population."

Currently there is still no solution to the problem that will satisfy both shepherds and pro-wolf campaigners. The National Policy on Wolves by the department of Agriculture and Ecology has stated that the main goal remains to guarantee the protection of wolves in France whilst also restricting their impact on domestic stock. For more information on the subject you can visit the official website.

For the moment the shepherds and farmers of the Serre-Poncon and Montclar area have no choice but to watch over their flocks day and night in order to prevent the attacks occurring again.