Several hundred people took part in a demonstration in favor of the wolf on Saturday afternoon in Besançon, at the call of organizations for the protection of wildlife and biodiversity.
Lupine predation developed strongly in 2022 in Haut-Doubs, particularly affecting cattle.
In the Doubs department alone, 25 cattle were killed, 29 injured and one sheep was injured, according to the prefecture.
This situation led the prefect of Doubs to issue authorizations for simple defensive shooting to protect the herds, to the chagrin of wildlife protection associations.
Report the shootings
On Saturday, some 500 people, according to the police, marched through downtown Besançon to denounce the shootings, some brandishing pictures of wolves or soft toys representing the animal.
"
I can live with the wolf but not with idiots
" or "
Don't touch the wolf
" proclaimed certain signs.
At the head of the procession walked the mayor of Besançon Anne Vignot and the new general secretary of EELV Franche-Comté, Dominique Voynet.
“
I want to demonstrate my conviction that we can reconcile living pastoralism, living agricultural activity, and the presence of large wild mammals
,” said Dominique Voynet.
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“
I was at the origin of the first wolf plans when the wolf returned to the Mercantour, I am convinced that the measures must be adapted to the economic and social reality of Haut-Doubs because the dairy activity is obviously not comparable to the sheep activity
", continued the former Minister of the Environment of the government of Lionel Jospin between 1997 and 2001.
“Cohabitation is possible”
“
The diversity of species also protects us.
If we hadn't eradicated all the foxes, we might have fewer voles swarming in the grasslands of Haut-Doubs
," she remarked, calling for "
relearning to live with this diversity
."
"
Cohabitation is possible, there are several countries that prove it: Italy, Spain, for a territory equal to ours have three times more wolves, the wolves are not shot and cohabitation is going well"
, assured Michèle Budna, president of the Pôle Grands Prédateurs, organizer of the event.
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Among the measures to be put in place to protect the herds, she cited the establishment of guard dogs, electric fences, or even guarding.
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