After multiple attacks in the Val-de-Meuse and Bourmont sector, Régine Pam, prefect of Haute-Marne, was sensitive to the distress of the breeders. She proposed an action plan that will allow defense fire to be put in place. All the agricultural unions on site were waiting for this decision.
No less than 47 sheep were killed by a wolf in the areas of Val-de-Meuse, Bourmont and Vosges in a few months. Faced with the exasperation of breeders and the initiative of the Brutel brothers from Bassoncourt who were the last victims of this wolf, a “spontaneous and survival” mobilization was organized in front of the Prefecture on January 15. 80 people responded to the call with, unusually, the presence of the three agricultural unions.
A transpartisan delegation was received by Régine Pam in the middle of the afternoon. They left this interview “rather satisfied”. Samuel Guenin, for the FDSEA, explains in detail: “We had to elbow our way, read between the lines and move a few commas but we made progress.”
For the central-eastern sector of the department, where there are sheep left on pastures, the State undertakes to provide nets and install them. The breeders are responsible for identifying the land and the surface area to be covered.
Defense shots to come
When the nets are installed, the prefect will facilitate simple defense shots. Breeders, hunters and scout lieutenants will be able to shoot the animal within a perimeter close to the plots. For Pierre-Edouard Brutel, “it’s an unexpected opportunity to make shots”. The other request from the breeders was to act quickly thanks to the mobilization of the prefecture and the departmental management of the territories. Farmers can't wait any longer.
Breeders can no longer tolerate the doubt put into people's minds when the French biodiversity office speaks of large canids or minimizes the number of wolves present in the territory. They therefore ask for DNA samples from all predated animals to obtain details made public and so that each attack is not the subject of discussion.
David Thenail, the director of Cobevim, notes the constructive exchanges with the prefect. He asks all breeders to follow the legality and the established mode of action so “that pro-wolf associations do not overturn prefectural decrees in favor of defensive shooting”. For example, the absence of regulatory nets prohibits shooting. We need one before the other even if the breeders know that the nets do not prevent the wolves from attacking the sheep.
-Support from Chaumontais and unions
During this mobilization, it should be noted the presence of Chaumontais like Gérard Bocquillon who came to support the breeders. He reminds us that the wolf is a predator and that it does not serve biodiversity. Another notes the 34 million euros spent to maintain the wolf while France is in debt or needs new hospitals. A third says that those who make the laws should get out of Paris and come to the farms.
Lénaïc Moilleron, sheep breeder on the list of the Confédération paysanne in the elections to the Chamber of Agriculture, does not say he is against the pro-wolf but pro-breeder and for the breeding of tomorrow. For him, the Bassigny wolf is passing through after being separated from a pack. “He learns to hunt and causes significant damage. Defense fire is justified especially since the envelopes to protect against it are not sufficient.” At his home, it is €13,000 every 5 years while he would need €40,000 to put up fences on all the plots. He judges that the sheep industry and, in particular, breeding are too fragile to accept the presence of wolves.
Rural Coordination is in the same spirit, believing that cohabitation between breeders and wolves is not possible. For Aurélie Mathieu, breeder in the Poisson sector and victim of the wolf last August, “it was time to act” after six years of meetings at the prefecture.
As for Sébastien Riottot, defensive shots had become essential. “We must stop this wolf dead, knowing that the protections are not sufficient. We must stop hiding behind our little finger and put an end to the massacre. The wolf is not adapted to the territory and to breeding.”
Frédéric Thévenin
