Gilles Morvan is at the head of the largest herd in Brittany. Its 1,600 sheep graze in Hanvec and Lopérec, municipalities which have just been classified in zone 2
, as part of the wolf plan that was formalized on Friday by the Prefect of Finistère. The breeder, who is the Breton representative of the National Sheep Federation (FNO), welcomes the state representative’s responsiveness.
“It will not be easy”
The wolf is back in Brittany: our file
He also acquired two sheepdogs of the Patou breed, in the process of being trained. “It should divert the wolf to the game. It will clean up the deer and roe deer populations, which is also not desirable”. Gilles Morvan does not see light in the future. “The wolf is protected by the Bern Convention, signed by France in 1979. We can shout that we don’t want it, but we have to deal with it. In Brittany, we are currently dealing with solitary individuals who are mainly content with game, but they can also kill calves and, if there were more of them, attack adult cattle, horses… not easy”.
“We will have to live with the wolf”
On the heights of Plounéour-Ménez, Marie Ménager raises a herd of 45 goats. On May 12, 2022, she saw a wolf pass under her windows. “My husband and I are not worried,” she testifies, specifying that her animals are in a park adjacent to a building to which they return every evening.
(Infographic The Telegram)
“The wolf does not learn to be afraid of people”
Patrick Sastre, breeder of 500 sheep in Dinéault, is cautious. “The reality shows that all the defensive measures that have been put in place are to the benefit of the wolf, which does not learn to be afraid of people. In countries that have not signed the Bern Convention, shepherds have guard dogs, but also a gun. And the wolf knows it. With us, defensive shots are fired without the wolves being in a predation situation. There is no training for the wolf, so it is afraid of breeding activities”.
He points to another mistake: “We are going to give up the little biodiversity in favor of the development of wolves and guard dogs. These large wild and domesticated predators will occupy the agricultural area and be in a hunting situation 365 days out of 365. The pleasure of encountering a deer on the edge of a forest, in five years it will be over. Ditto for birds that nest on the ground, such as curlews. No electrified speaker planned for Patrick Sastre. Conversely, he does not rule out reducing his breeding so that he can return to the sheepfold “in tense moments”.
The wolf is back in Brittany
