the wolf prowls the Larzac

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The loup remains very present in theHérault, exclusively in four remote rural areas in the north, but without the existence of a pack: this is the observation drawn up during the “wolf committee” gathered this Monday, October 28, 2024 in Montpellier, around the prefect of Hérault, François-Xavier Lauch.

A meeting in full news, since a wolf was seen and even photographed last October 22 in broad daylight, in the small rural town of Saint-Michelnortheast of Lodève, near Caylar, 300 meters from homes and flocks of sheep, as confirmed by isolated evidence on site. Lonely, he was probably looking for food.

OFB, DDTM, unions and elected officials

The presence of this species of canid was therefore discussed during this working meeting under the chairmanship of the prefect in the presence of numerous stakeholders: departmental directorate of territories and the sea -DDTM 34-, French Biodiversity Office -OFB-, agricultural unions and elected officials, including Sophie Pradel, mayor of Saint-Michel and sheep breeder.

“It is a subject of interest in Hérault, particularly in areas marked by pastoralism. In accordance with the national wolf plan, the State provides guarantees: absolute transparency on the presence of the wolf in the territory, the analysis of all the clues noted in the field, the speed and responsiveness of the OFB services in the findings make and compensation following predation the continuous exchange with the neighboring departments, Tarn, Aveyron and Gard, the wolf having no borders” indicates the prefect of Hérault.

The prefecture reveals some key figures: between 1,003 and 1,100 individuals are estimated at the national level, 71 clues collected since January 1, 2024, including 28 retained and 4 confirmed wolves in the department in four areas concerned: the Caroux, Somail and Montagne Noire massifs and on the Larzac plateau “The State reiterates its desire to protect breeders victims of wolf predation, whose presence is increasing depending on the territory,” confirms François-Xavier Lauch.

A pack in the Luberon

In the Vaucluse, a pack has been located several times in the heart of the Luberon massif, with a violent scene experienced by a resident of Apt, which has 12,000. In recent months, while she was walking it at the gates of the city, at level of a residential subdivision, his dog started barking loudly in the direction of a large grove. Believing that game was hiding there, she wanted to take a close look and what was her surprise to see two wolves fleeing. It is clear, it was not dogs and hunters who track wild boars in the Luberon were hardly surprised: they have already seen at least five wolves together on the Apt plateau, traces and excrement at the 'support.

These hunters assure that this pack took possession of a wooded and isolated territory, thus hunting wild boars and other animals, as they observed.

174 wolves killed

The “withdrawal” ceiling is set at 209, or approximately 20%. In 2024, 174 wolves have already been killed. In the department, this year, compensation for victims amounts to a total of €10,000. “The biggest expense is supporting breeders to have a herd defense dog – a patou – to install fences. For the department, this represents a cost of €66,000 in 2024″, specifies the sub-prefect of Lodève, Eric Suzanne, the rurality referent in Hérault, specifying that “this concerns in particular the purchase, care and dog training”.

The presence of the wolf on October 22 in Saint-Michel, in the Navacelles circus is not a first, as the mayor indicated during the prefecture meeting, since beast attacks took place in 2022 and the last at the end of October 2023. For a year, no new reports of canis lupus had been made.

Four sheep killed recently

Still, the wolf is lurking not far away: in fact, on September 22, four sheep were killed and devoured, and eight others injured in the neighboring commune of Larzac de Saint-Maurice-Navacelles. The OFB does not officially confirm that these September attacks and the presence of a wolf a month later, even if it was one of their photo devices that trapped it, investigations are underway to confirm.

“This refusal of the OFB to admit the existence of wolves, even though they are photographed, the traces noted leave no doubt and the gaping wounds on the sheep is becoming tiring. It's incomprehensible and this attitude of these state agents further worsens the situation in which we are plunged, the loss of our animals is difficult to accept” assures a breeder from Hérault who does not lose his temper.

Corpse of a cub

According to the prefecture, even if its presence is increasing in France, the number of predations is decreasing in Hérault. During the summer of 2022, a cub was discovered dead in the commune of Rives, on the edge of Larzac in Aveyron, which tends to attest that a couple had found refuge. In any case, it is at least proof that canis lupus does haunt the hills north of Montpellier.

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