The assessment is the preliminary of the prefectural statement: The predation exerted by the wolf on sheep flocks has intensified in recent years, and this trend is once again confirmed in 2014.
The latest case occurred in the commune of Tende, where a recent attack resulted in 29 victims for a livestock farmer who was guarding his flock and implementing protective and defensive measures.
Protection measures for the flocks and wolf deterrence have been implemented by the farmers present on the pastoral units of the communes of Tende and La Brigue: the presence of protection dogs within the flocks is widespread, as well as guardianship.
State services, particularly the National Office of Hunting and Wildlife (ONCFS), are mobilizing with the support of wolfhound lieutenants, hunters, and farmers to defend flocks against wolf attacks and to organize ambushes or drives authorized by the Prefect.
Despite this, losses related to predation remain very significant, putting a pastoral economy in difficulty, whose role in managing natural spaces and maintaining landscapes is nonetheless undeniable. The implementation of defense shootings authorized by the concerned farmers has also not stopped the damage caused to the flocks.
To reduce the exposure of the flocks to wolf predation, the Prefect of Alpes-Maritimes authorizes, for a duration of 1 month, an operation to cull wolves in the Roya Valley in the communes of La Brigue and Tende, outside the core zone of the Mercantour National Park.
Naturally, it will not be an open wolf hunt, but it is entrusted to the departmental service agents of the ONCFS, with the help of the Lieutenants of Louveterie of Alpes-Maritimes and hunters authorized by the Prefect to participate in wolf culling operations by derogation of the protection status of the species for the purpose of flock protection.
This culling is part of the quota of animals that can be taken without harming the maintenance of a favorable conservation state of wolf populations within their natural distribution range, defined nationally within the framework of the wolf plan.
