Wolf plan 2024-2029: an openly anti-wolf government policy, national action by One Voice
The main thrusts of the 2024-2029 French National Action Plan on wolves and livestock activities (or “Plan Loup”) were presented this Wednesday, February 21. Once again, the government has chosen to side with the intensive farming lobbies. In the face of this programmed extermination, we are mobilizing to make their voices heard. On the first weekend of March, we’ll be present in around twenty towns across France to defend them and try to halt their announced massacre.
This new plan, described as “concerned with the preservation of extensive and pastoral livestock farming”, totally forgets its objective, which is supposed to be the preservation of species!
In 2024, 209 wolves can be legally killed – perhaps even more if the ceiling is raised, as is almost always the case. In Lyon, our activists will be paying tribute to the 207 wolves killed in 2023. In Draguignan, we will be present in front of the prefecture to raise public awareness of the fate of these animals.
(Definitive and ineffective) lethal shootings made easier
After the disturbing stance taken by the President of the European Commission last September, the culls we have been opposing from the outset are made easier in this new plan of shame! The obligation to light a wolf before shooting has been abolished; the number of shooters has been increased from one to three for simple defense shots; and the use of thermal sights has been generalized for lieutenants of louveterie and pests. The aim is clear: to make it even harder for wolves to escape, even harder for them to get away.
The usefulness of shooting is never questioned. Yet the Wolf Plan 2018-2023 already cast doubt on the effectiveness of this morbid device.[1] Scientific studies suggest that these shots may even have the opposite effects to those intended: if wolves sometimes stop feeding in the same area following the slaughter of a family member, they will in fact move a few kilometers, resolving nothing that breeders blame them for.
Protective measures, the only effective weapon…
… provided that training and controls are deployed on farms. By definition, shooting should remain the exception, as it is a derogation from wolf protection. However, prefectoral decrees are copy-pastes of one another, and their justifications vague and stereotyped. When properly implemented, with adequate support, these measures can effectively guard flocks.
The State refuses to protect farmed animals, opting instead for massacres
In this new plan, everything is done to please intensive farmers, with the compensation scale being revised upwards; even though some herds are not protected! For several months now, we’ve been campaigning for the government to recognize that cows and horses should be protected. In 2023, we initiated proceedings before the Conseil d’État to counter this nonsense.
All these arguments prompted the French national council for nature protection to side with us, with the wolves, when consulted on the 2024-2029 project.
Putting an end to hypocrisy
Let’s not forget that the same farmers who bemoan the fate of their ewes no longer feel the same way when it comes to sending them to slaughter, sometimes by boat for weeks on end in abominable conditions. Losses due to wolves represent only a tiny proportion (0.15%) of the sheep population (ewes and lambs). The proportion due to disease, transport accidents, falls, etc. is ten times higher.
Even if the game is unbalanced and victories difficult to achieve, we will continue to demand respect and protection for wolves. It’s high time we got away from the anxiety-inducing imaginary world we’ve grown up with about these animals. In this fight against superstition and the relentless attack on biodiversity and nature, we need your support. Sign our petition and join us on March 02 and 03* at our actions in favor of wolves throughout France: Aix en Provence (13), Amiens (80), Bar le Duc (55), Bordeaux (33), Briançon (05), Brive-la-Gaillarde (19), Château Arnoux Saint Auban (04), Draguignan (06), Falaise (14), Gap (05), La Rochelle (17), Lille (59), Limoges (87), Lyon (69), Marseille (13), Metz (57), Nantes (44), Paris (75), Strasbourg (67), Troyes (10).
* Please check the date, place and time before coming: some events will take place in February, or may be subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances. If there is no link to an event in a particular city, refer to the national event.
[1] French national action plan for 2018-2023 concerning wolves and farming activities, page 12: “Concerning the effect of these shots on predation: without suitable spatial and temporal metrics, it is difficult to highlight a general trend on the evolution of damage according to the level of taking.”
February 26 update: clarification of the 0.15% figure concerning French sheep.