A wolf shot in Aveyron: all the explanations

This is a rare enough event to be highlighted: a wolf was shot this week in our departments. The animal was fatally wounded in Aveyron on Monday evening in Saint-Beauzély on the Lévezou plateau. This is only the second wolf killed in this department. The first was killed last October on the Larzac in Saint-Beaulize.

This second animal was hit by a team of a breeder and a hunter authorized by the prefecture to carry out simple defense shootings in the territory of Saint-Beauzély where two attacks had hit a farm in June and July.

The animal has not been found for the moment despite the searches of the French Office of Biodiversity (OFB) on the scene on Tuesday, but the quantities of blood found on the ground leave no doubt that the wolf will not be able to survive its injuries. It can nevertheless travel several km before collapsing, which was the case last autumn.

Genetic analyses will have to officially confirm that it is indeed a wolf, even if the doubts are low.

A respite for breeders?

This death in no way guarantees an end to the attacks in southern Aveyron.

The prefecture has not established a link with the wolf that has repeatedly struck in Sainte-Eulalie-de-Cernon, l’Hospitalet-du-Larzac or Cornus and which has triggered the establishment of a continuous wolf brigade since April. For the Departmental Directorate of Territories, it seems difficult for a single animal to cover such a large area. Another wolf was probably observed on Monday in the same time slot, far from the shooting location.