A wolf was fatally hit by a car near Saint-Etienne, ten months after a previous collision in the north of the Loire, we learned on Friday from the prefecture and the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB). ).
“
The necropsy carried out on Thursday of the canine accidentally hit the day before in Roche-la-Molière (Loire) confirmed that the animal is a young male wolf and that the collision is the cause of death,” he told AFP
. Florie Bazireau, coordinator of the “
wolf lynx network
” in Auvergne Rhône-Alpes at the OFB.
The Loire prefecture indicates for its part that "
no predation on domestic herds has been reported within a wide radius over a period of several weeks
", adding that "
the stomach analysis of the animal shows recent consumption of wild game
”.
Front of colonization of the species
In May 2022, a wolf of Italian-Alpine lineage had already been fatally injured by a vehicle on a departmental road in the Loire.
“
Far from known permanent presence areas, mainly in the Alps, the Loire is located on a colonization front for the species.
These are individuals in the dispersal phase, in autumn or spring, when they are unable to dethrone the dominant male or female
,” explains Florie Bazireau.
Each year in Auvergne Rhône-Alpes one or more of these animals protected by the Bern Convention of 1979 "perish on the road in collisions, notes the representative of the OFB. In the Loire, the first indication of the proven presence of the wolf dates back to February 2018, when a sheep was killed in Saint-Pierre-de-Boeuf, in Rhone Pilat, according to the Departmental Directorate of Territories.
Dogs to deter wolf attacks
About twenty sheep or goat breeders in this department have since acquired dogs of the Patou breed, which live permanently within the herd to deter attacks from wolves or wild dogs, with support from the State of 80% of the cost of acquisition, care and food of the animal, according to Yves Odouard and Madeleine Chaut, respectively members of the Confédération paysanne and the FNSEA.
Returning naturally to France for 30 years from Italy, gray wolves are still more numerous in France, with a population estimated by the OFB at 921 at the end of winter 2021-2022.
They are mainly present in the Alpine and Provençal massifs.