A wolf attacked a sheep in Blicourt (Oise) in mid-November, the prefecture said Thursday (November 26th) in a press release, stressing that it was “
an isolated case
” in this department far from the Southern Alps where concentrates the largest number of wolves in France.
Read also: Alps: breeders facing the great return of the wolf
Following the report by a breeder from Blicourt, a town located about ten kilometers north of Beauvais, of the attack on one of his ewes on the night of November 12 to 13, agents of the French Office for biodiversity have taken surveys.
These statements "
confirm the responsibility of the wolf in the attack
", indicates the prefecture of Oise, adding that "
on the basis of this observation, the breeder will be compensated for the loss suffered
".
Species protected in France, the wolf "
is known for its great dispersal capacity
", specifies the prefecture.
If it breeds in the Alps, where it made its return in 1992, "
dispersal phenomena are observed mainly in spring and autumn, when the young leave the pack to look for a new territory where to settle
" .
Solitary wolves have thus been observed “
at a distance from the heart of the alpine population
”, in Indre, Eure-et-Loir, Somme or Charente-Maritime.
In the Oise, "
even if the event is for the moment an isolated case, a reinforced system of monitoring of the signs of presence will be put in place
", concludes the prefecture.
In June, the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB) estimated the gray wolf population in France at 580 adult animals, compared to 530 a year earlier.
