On the evening of Sunday, December 15, a video showing an animal similar to a wolf, filmed on Avenue Gabriel-Péri in Vaulx-en-Velin, made the rounds on Snapchat. In the images, we can see, in the night, a large gray and white canine roaming freely. Nonchalantly, he strolls in front of a police car before approaching, without fear, individuals stationed behind a barrier.
“Shorter in the wolf”
Contacted by Progress, the Rhône national police confirmed that they intervened this Sunday, December 15, around 8:15 p.m., to recover this wandering animal. After verification, it was actually a wolfdog carrying a microchip. Escaped from his home, he was quickly returned to his owner living nearby.
But how can you precisely differentiate a wolf from a wolfdog? Progress was able to interview several specialists, in order to avoid any confusion in the future. According to Bertrand Manesse, graduate in applied ethology and specialist in wolf behavior, “The pointed ears, on the animal in the video, are characteristic of the dog- wolf, just like the tail, which is much shorter in the wolf. The problem is that the evolution of current crossbreeding makes wolfdogs more and more similar to wolves, and sometimes only a DNA test can tell which species they are. But this is not the case for the wolfdog seen in Vaulx-en-Velin. »
“A wolf will be much more suspicious”
For Jean-François Chary, expert veterinary doctor at the Lyon Court of Appeal: “The general silhouette is characteristic of that of a dog; the wolf is much more wiry than that. Additionally, you will never see a wild wolf exhibit such behavior and approach humans in this manner. A wolf will be much more suspicious and very difficult to reach. »
