Biodiversity: Macron wants to prevent the introduction of wolves where there is pastoralism

Emmanuel Macron pleaded on Thursday, July 3, to prevent the introduction of wolves where "there is pastoralism," even if it means "taking more of them," that is, allowing a greater number of canids to be killed. "We are not going to let the wolf develop and go into mountain ranges where it competes with our activities," added the head of state on the sidelines of a trip to Aveyron. "And so that means that we must, as we say modestly, take more of them," he insisted.

The head of state argued in particular that the presence of bears, wolves "and even vultures" led farmers to leave their animals "down there" . "And so we have land that is becoming wasteland, scrubland and what happens then: I bet you, in four years we will have fires," he added.

"All the people who invent rules and who do not live with animals in places where there are bears or wolves, they should go and spend two nights there," he added, assuring that he knew "the anguish that this represents" and castigating the accumulation of rules imposed on breeders.

The president is basing this in particular on the recent decision at the European level to downgrade the status of the wolf , which has become a "protected" species and no longer "strictly protected" . This development had also been denounced by biodiversity defenders. "And so now, as it is no longer a highly protected species, we must not wait until it has settled in, until you have made all the investments, to be able to cull" - that is to say, kill - animals.

At the end of June, the government had already issued a decree allowing cattle and horse farmers to carry out defensive shooting against wolves to protect their herds even when they have not already been attacked. The Minister of Agriculture, Annie Genevard, had indicated on May 28 before the Senate that as of May 12, "there have already been 759 attacks and 2,617 preyed upon animals" , causing "considerable damage" .

This time, Emmanuel Macron considered it "likely that a law will be needed" to achieve his goals, turning to the parliamentarians present during his visit to Roquefort-sur-Soulzon who, according to him, "will have allies in many departments" .

"Excluding wolves from livestock farming areas is unrealistic and has no scientific basis. Wolves live in large territories that are impossible to divide," argued Cédric Marteau of the environmental protection association LPO . "The challenge is to continue the work undertaken with livestock farmers and to strengthen measures to limit interactions with herds," he insisted.