A wolf hit by a train in Drôme
Another wolf the victim of a collision... One Voice condemns this silent massacre.
A wolf was found dead on Monday 3 July in the morning, on the edge of the railway tracks in Crozes-Hermitage in Drôme. In France, wolves are faced with multiple threats: slaughtered by shots – even though they belong to a protected species -, poaching, and also road accidents.
According to the autopsy, it was an adult male weighing 32kg, deceased following a collision with a train. However, on photos circulating on social media, the body of the poor creature seemed to be in a relatively good state after such an impact…
Dozens of wolves victims of collisions every year
Since the start of 2023, at least five of them have died in this way: in Seine-et-Marne on 11 January, two days later in the Calanques National Park, on 17 January near Grande-Motte, and on 22 March in
Loire. Then at the beginning of July, this new victim was mowed down by a train.
Another, knocked down in January, survived the impact, but was never found. Most certainly injured, it is likely that it died due to its injuries…
Since these are accidents, drivers are not at risk. It is therefore easy for some of those who dislike wolves to pretend that the collisions are by chance when in reality they are deliberately trying to get rid of wolves with their vehicles… This is what happened a few months ago in Haute-Savoie, when a driver tried to run one of them over. Video recordings fortunately allowed those implicated to be found and they will be judged at a trial in the coming months, at which we will be a civil party in the wolf’s memory.
Hide these wolves out of sight
Even though the lupine population is in decline, as revealed by the count by the French Office for Biodiversity a few days ago, the State continues to slaughter them without even taking into consideration those who die from accidents caused by humans. Worse, the administration responsible for monitoring these slaughters has even decided to no longer disclose the annual number of wolves found dead by accidental, natural, or undetermined causes.
Up until 2019, this data was communicated by the DREAL [Regional Directorate for Environment, Development, and Housing] in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. In 2018 and 2019, 27 and 20 wolves respectively were found dead in these conditions. These figures are now glossed over. In fact, when we know that the quota of individuals to be slaughtered increases year on year, it is better to try to reduce their responsibility for this massacre by trying to make people forget that wolves die from many other causes as well.
Join us in our fight: sign our petition to say stop persecuting wolves!
Translated from the French by Joely Justice