Le Figaro Nice
During his greetings to the press on January 23, the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes Hugues Moutouh spoke of a
“shift”
to describe the presence of the wolf in the department.
“We understood that it is no longer a threatened or endangered species
,” he added.
One way to justify the increase for 2024 in the number of predators that can be collected for regulatory purposes: 60, compared to 54 in 2023. This is because from now on, fear has changed sides.
The threat is him, this canine invisible during the day and who decimates chickens and sheep at night.
But also, cows, ponies and horses.
Julia Bonnet had the macabre experience last weekend.
On Sunday, she found Liberty Rosie, her 18-year-old pony, half devoured on her grazing ground, in Saorge, in the Mercantour national park.
To make matters worse, the animal was pregnant and should have given birth during the month of April.
Her foal was also completely eaten.
For Julia there is no doubt, only a pack of wolves could have committed such a massacre.
“An agent from the DDTM (Departmental Directorate of Territories and the Sea, Editor's note) came to the site to make observations and he had no doubts either.
There were large bite marks on the throat.
“It’s characteristic of the wolf
,” she explains.
Also read “When you don’t know him, he’s scary”: on the trail of the wolf in the Alps
“Risk is everywhere, all the time”
Liberty Rosie, an 18-year-old retired pony, was found half-eaten on her grazing ground in Saorge, Mercantour National Park.
DR / Julia Bonnet
This is not the first time that this breeder from the Roya valley has been confronted with such a spectacle.
“Between 2023 and 2024, I suffered five fatal wolf attacks on my animals.
And two others where a mare and a foal were injured
,” she certifies.
Julia, who also chairs the Roya breeders' association, says she is distraught by what has become over time the lot of all her fellow breeders in the Nice hinterland.
“It’s disgusting and it makes you want to stop everything!
However, I've been doing this job for 20 years and it wasn't like that before.
Today it’s out of control, the risk is everywhere, all the time
,” she laments, disappointed.
In a long message shared on Facebook, the latter protests against
“the killing too many!”
Also read “He found his pantry and helps himself”: the herd of a Bouches-du-Rhône breeder decimated by the wolf
“A form of relentlessness”
A bitterness shared by Sébastien Olharan, the mayor (LR) of Breil-sur-Roya.
On X (formerly Twitter), the councilor echoed this umpteenth attack in the valley.
“I would like to reiterate my support for our breeders who, in addition to doing difficult work, are faced with this penalizing and traumatic predation.
It is high time to allow them to defend their herds against these attacks, including in the Mercantour Park
,” he wrote.
In Le
Figaro
, he denounces
“a form of relentlessness”
from the managers of the Mercantour park towards the breeders.
“In the park, in other words where the majority of pasture areas are located, they have no right to any defense against wolves.
Weapons are strictly prohibited, regardless of the context.
Breeders are not even allowed to have cartridges on them, under penalty of prosecution.
In other words, if one of them witnesses an attack in broad daylight, there is nothing they can do
,” he gets annoyed.
Sébastien Olharan pleads for breeders to be able, in this specific context, to carry out defensive shooting.
Today, a wolf scout may be called after three consecutive attacks in the same area have been noted and formally attributed to the wolf.
“Yes, finally outside the park only!”
, complains Julia, denouncing in turn
“the hostile climate”
that the managers of the Mercantour park would have installed towards the breeders.
“They are taking away the territory from us, it’s nothing more than negative
,” she insists.
According to Mayor Breil, in 2023, 105 wolf attacks on herds would have been recorded in the Roya valley alone.
“87 on sheep or goats, 12 on cows/calves and 6 on horses/ponies
,” he specifies.