The full press release
“The wolf has been spotted several times in the Côte d’Or in recent weeks and more precisely in the Val Suzon sector. As in other French regions where it has made a comeback for many years already, it does not go unnoticed. .
Unfortunately, it can sometimes attack our herds and when it attacks them like two weeks ago in Francheville so close to houses, the emotion felt by the inhabitants and the farmers of the village is very strong.
These attacks are rare when herds are protected, but even then they do happen. The additional means implemented by the shepherd since last week will be enough, we hope, to preserve his flock as well as the wolf.
The Association des Sentinelles de la Montagne Dijonnaise expresses its full support for this shepherd in the ordeal he is going through. The massacre of some of his sheep, the mutilation of several others and the state of panic of the rest of the flock will have caused him a considerable psychological shock. The installation of additional means of protection and surveillance also requires a significant work overload and his state of anxiety is now permanent. Sheep grazing contributes to the maintenance of the common goods that constitute our landscapes and contributes to the preservation of biodiversity in the specific environments where it is practiced. This activity and those who exercise it must therefore be supported at all levels.
The prefecture very quickly authorized the breeder to shoot the wolf, whereas in other situations this authorization takes much longer to obtain. We hope that this decision was not taken under the pressure of the demonstration organized by the FDSEA on Friday, January 29.
The association also denounces the comments of certain participants in this event and the use that the FDSEA makes of its attacks to mobilize farmers. One can indeed wonder to what extent the FDSEA, on this occasion, will not have sought to recover the distress and the distress of the sheep farmers to in fact serve the demands of other categories of farmers, who live in difficult situations. less precarious and which are part of a productivist agriculture from which they want to continue to reap the benefits without having to wonder about its environmental consequences.
While it should sit at the table of meetings bringing together all concerned parties and work to develop and implement relevant, balanced, realistic and achievable solutions, the FDSEA blows the embers with each new attack. . The shooting of this wolf, if it were to take place, is not a long-term solution, others will come back and cause even more damage to the herds, as they will not be protected. It is illusory to make breeders believe that we will once again make wolves permanently disappear from our forests.
The wolf has its place with us, it has always had it and its absence for the past 50 years was only a parenthesis. We also remind those who would have forgotten it a little quickly, that the wolf is a protected species and that its destruction, without authorization, can lead to heavy penalties.
In some European countries where the wolf has never disappeared, such as Italy, breeders have always lived with it. We believe that this is also possible in France, on condition that breeders receive the necessary help and support from the public authorities as well as from their unions or associations.
The wolf is also part of this fragile balance that man has a duty to restore. As such, it has its place in our forests. It also helps maintain biodiversity. “
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