An emergency meeting between the deputy director of the Departmental Directorate of Territories of Lozère and the Rural Coordination 48 was organized following the second wolf attack on the farm in the municipality of Estables, in Lozère,
reports France 3 Occitanie.
Rural coordination calls for reinforced defense fire, and no longer just simple defensive fire as has been the case since 2016. This request for an increase in the power of action is explained by the return of the predator in the surrounding area. , main accused of the death of 14 sheep in one week.
An order awaited to proceed with the shooting
The wolf, although it has not yet been recognized as guilty, obviously remains the main suspect in view of the autopsies carried out by agents of the French Biodiversity Office (OFB). However, it will be necessary to await the approval of the prefect of the Auvergne / Rhône-Alpes Region to know whether the prefecture of Lozère is authorized to issue an order authorizing shooting either by OFB agents, or by wolf-keepers, or by hunters.
In the meantime, the herd will not leave the sheepfold according to Alain Pouget, president of the rural coordination of Lozère and Occitanie: “The breeder will keep his hundred sheep at the sheepfold, whereas usually during this period, the herd is in summer. We therefore ask for financial support, from the prefecture’s own funds, of the additional cost for the breeder. Because keeping the animals locked up means that you have to use up the fodder reserves planned for the winter to feed them. “