Big Bad Wolf
I have just attended a fascinating local conference about the status of wolves (Fr. le loup) in France. Wolves are coming back after being extirpated at some time in the last century. Current numbers are back up to an estimate of 1104 animals, the vast majority being found in the Alps where a steady colonisation from Italy has been happening for the last 30 years. However, recently a very small number – exclusively young males - have managed to make it as far as the departments of the Pyrenees Oriental and the Aude, crossing the Rhone valley with its motorways and conurbations. They have been detected by camera traps set up in the forest in the mountains. So far they have not formed breeding packs, but remain as solitary animals. ...