Objective
The LIFE project seeks, in the long run, to ensure a lasting return of the wolf to French territory and to favour its social acceptance. First of all, the project's immediate actions purport to improve knowledge of the species, by studying anf tracking individual animals. The habitat and the potential distribution of the species will be mapped by means of a geographic information system (GIS) covering the French Alps. These maps will permit future expansion of the wolf populations and management of human activities (stockraising, hunting...) to be planned in those areas potentially favorable for the wolf.
Actions to support stockraising in the zones where wolves occur are also foreseen: flock surveillance will be backed up by recruiting additional herdsmen, procuring guard dogs and erecting enclosures for the livestock. Damages caused by wolves will continue to be indemnified. To reduce predation of domestic animals, wild ungulates will be released in areas where there is a shortage of prey.
Finally, information and awareness work targeting the local inhabitants will be undertaken throughout the district.
Crossing the border from Italy, the wolf (Canis lupus) re-appeared in France in 1992 in the Mercantour national park (Alpes Maritimes) and by 1996 its numbers were estimated to be between 12 and 17, divided into two main packs. This carnivore is linked to the presence of forests and wild ungulates. The territory used by a pack in the Mercantour is about 250 km{2}, but this figure varies in proportion to the availability of prey. Predation of domestic ungulates, i.e. livestock, increases as wild ungulates become scarcer.
Peaceful co-existence between man and wolf is particularly difficult with sheep farming, as the damages inflicted on the flocks by the wolves provoke local backlash against any return of the animal to the district. Yet the wolf, an expanding species with a high demographic potential, is capable of colonizing the entire Alpine range, and even other regions.
Topic(s)
Data not availableCall for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
75007 Paris
France