Century-Old Mystery Unfolds: Gray Wolf Reappears in Northern France, Sparking Wild Speculation
Local officials finally launched a public eradication program in the early 19th century, offering princely rewards to those who were able to hunt and kill the animals. Hunters needed to cut off and bring back the animals’ ears as evidence to claim their prize.
The program was a huge success in cutting down the local wolf population that terrorized locals and livestock but it also caused a severe decline of the species. However, modern conservation efforts that aimed to rehabilitate the wolf population have helped them bounce back across the continent.
Wikimedia Commons.Gerard Rijsbrack’s ‘Wolf Hunt’ depicts a wolf hunt by the French king’s hounds during the 18th century.
“It is in this territory from the forest of Eu to the forest of Eawy that the wolf was eradicated in the 19th century,” said Jean-Marc Moriceau, a historian and professor at the University of Caen who has written extensively about the animals’ history in the region.
“It is as if instinctively the wolf returned to where it had settled before being hunted by man.”
A 2015 report by the European Union counted at least 10 separate wolf populations which spread from Portugal to Poland with the majority found in the Baltic states.
Ironically, their numbers have rebounded so greatly that another report a few years later sought to address the impact that the wolves’ recovery could have — again — on the livelihood of local farmers.
Agriculture Minister Didier Guillaume has said, “We now consider that the wolf is no longer a species at risk of extinction, which is a good thing in terms of biodiversity.”
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