![]() The enraged pastoralists in Poulh, Ariège, threatened agents from the National Office of Hunting & Wildlife who had been sent to examine their claims. In the most recent incident, they claim dozens of sheep died after they were spooked by a bear and fell into a ravine. There are only about 22 in the mountains bordering France and Spain, the result of a contentious program that brought in bears from Slovenia.īut shepherds there are threatening to take the law into their own hands. In the Pyrenees, brown bears are the target. In 2012, there were 800 wolf attacks on flocks in the area, leading to the deaths of 2,417 sheep, a third of total losses in France. This month, shepherds in the Alpes-Maritime department of southern France petitioned president Francois Hollande for permission to kill more than the 24 wolves allowed in the winter hunting season. For example, the return of the Grey wolf in France has been relatively difficult compared to Italy: in France, wolf recovery takes place amidst extensive agricultural activity with large flocks of sheep grazing in summer pastures, while in other areas, such as the Apennines of Italy, land abandonment and a decrease in rural population has created space for returning wolves. As the Rewilding report notes judiciously, The comeback of large predators and the persistence of high natural value farmland are difficult to reconcile. They complain large numbers of their sheep are being killed by bears and wolves. Shepherds in the French Pyrenees and the western Alps are already well aware of this. And for the grey wolf, which saw serious losses in the past, populations have climbed by 30%. Top predators such as the brown bear, numbers have doubled. They believe that protection, curbs on hunting and people moving away from rural areas and into cities have helped Europe’s wildlife to recover. Conservationists say species such as bears, wolves, lynx, eagles and vultures have increased in numbers. But as Rebecca Morelle reports for the BBC, their success comes often at the expense of farmers and shepherds. ![]() Article contentīoar are only one of the species thriving from Spain to the Urals, says a new study, Wildlife Comeback in Europe. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. ![]()
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