Cprobably guilty, but presumed innocent. Investigators from the French Biodiversity Office (OFB) do not have the same means as their colleagues from the scientific police for a criminal case, in order to establish the responsibility of the wolf in the death of several sheep in the south of the Charente-Maritime. But the animal is strongly suspected by environmental agents of having given in to its predatory instinct on a farm, in the town of Saint-Augustin. The case dates back to September 20, before the observation of a common wolf in the vineyards of Haute-Gironde, on October 13, and several attacks on sheep.
“OFB agents intervened following the report of a breeder from Saint-Augustin, who had had several predated sheep since September 20,” reports Xavier Aerts, departmental director of territories and the sea. The OFB made an observation at the beginning of October. Of the ten dead sheep, given the state of the carcasses, only one could be properly examined. The survey made it possible to conclude that the responsibility of the wolf cannot be ruled out. »
State services urge caution. However, as the procedure in the event of a suspected wolf attack provides, the elected representatives of the communes of the department and the breeders, via the Chamber of Agriculture of Charente-Maritime and Deux-Sèvres, have been informed. In particular, a “reflex sheet” was sent to them.
Compensation procedures
This document explains to any breeder, shepherd or owner of domestic animals how to report predation on domestic animals when wolves are suspected of being responsible. He also recommends not touching the carcass of a killed animal so as not to complicate the work of the OFB agents in charge of the findings. If the index readings and other biological samples establish the responsibility, even probable, of a wild predator, the victim can begin compensation procedures. “The breeder from Saint-Augustin was informed that he could make a request for compensation for the ewe,” confirms Xavier Aerts.
This attack is the first officially attributed to a wild wolf since the reappearance of Canis lupus in Charente-Maritime in November 2019. Witnesses had observed a solitary animal, undoubtedly a young one, in Chenac-Saint-Seurin-d'Uzet and in Saint-Thomas-de-Conac, at the side of the road. But he had been “cleared” of the fatal raid on a farm in Mortagne-sur-Gironde, the culprit of which was a dog. An insurance company has demonstrated in the past that stray dogs are often the primary culprits (1,080 sheep killed in Charente-Maritime in 2014).
On the other hand, several farms in the north of the department, from Saint-Saturnin-du-Bois to Marans, did suffer the assault of wolves a year later, in November 2020, but they had escaped from a refuge in Les Deux -Sèvres. Since then, the Departmental Directorate of Territories and the Sea has indicated that there has been no other trace of the presence of the wolf in Aunis and Saintonge. “This remains exceptional,” emphasizes Xavier Aerts.
Plan loup 2024-2029
However, observations in recent years, in Charente-Maritime, but also in Dordogne, Vendée, Corrèze, Vienne and recently in Gironde, have awakened ancestral fears in the agricultural world. This is why Charente-Maritime was included in the new Loup 2024-2029 plan, like the entire country. This was the wish of Cédric Tranquard, president of the Chamber of Agriculture and the FDSEA, head of the national wildlife commission at the FNSEA, expressed last year. “Today, the problem does not concern us, but if tomorrow the wolf moves in with us, we will integrate the plan automatically. »
It's done. Charente-Maritime is included in circle 3 of the wolf plan, as a “zone of possible occurrence of wolf predation in the medium term”. The municipalities concerned are eligible for assistance with the acquisition of protection dogs and appropriate technical support.
“The idea,” summarizes Xavier Aerts, “is to succeed in reconciling the survival of a species protected at European level and the preservation of agricultural practices, pastoralism and other forms of livestock farming. »
The subject nevertheless remains sensitive. Last July, the Haute-Vienne Rural Coordination published a press release and posters on its website encouraging hunters and farmers to carry out the illegal killing of wolves. The animal rights association One Voice took the agricultural union to court. The Limoges judicial court was due to rule on November 6.
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