A gray wolf was seen this Thursday for the first time in Finistère for more than a century. The species, which had returned to France in 1992, is nevertheless known for its great capacity for dispersal, making it impossible to confirm that it has settled in the department.
A wolf was filmed by an automatic camera on Wednesday in Finistère, a department where its presence had not been reported for more than a century, the prefecture in Quimper announced on Thursday. The large canine was filmed in the town of Berrien, in the Arrée mountains, in the center of the department, indicates the prefecture in a press release. “If the presence of the wolf in Finistère is a first for more than a century, the species is known for its great capacity for dispersal”, she underlines.
A species “punctually” seen
Since the return of the wolf to France in the Southern Alps in 1992, the species has settled in the main French mountain ranges. It is occasionally, but regularly seen in areas far from the heart of the Alpine population, as was the case in the departments of Vendée, Charente-Maritime, Loire-Atlantique or Calvados, according to the same source.
The observation made in the Monts d’Arrée of an animal alone and far from the areas where the species is present is characteristic of individuals in the dispersal phase, a phenomenon which occurs twice a year, in spring and in winter. fall.
580 gray wolves in France
Wolves can travel several hundred kilometers before settling, and this in a few months. The speed of movement and stealth of this species from one point to another means that it can easily go unnoticed along its dispersal path. “At this stage, this observation in Finistère does not allow us to say that the wolf is settling in the department”, indicates the prefecture. In June 2021, the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB) estimated the population of gray wolves in France at 580 adult animals, compared to 530 a year earlier.