Four months after the first attacks on livestock in France’s Vosges Mountains, a young agricultural college graduate from the département has been employed as a shepherd, working for several livestock farmers who are afraid of losing more animals to the "beast of Vosges." image expired

22 year old Jean-Philippe Rémy Ventron was selected by the local chamber of agriculture to help livestock farmers whose flocks have suffered attacks since wolves returned to the region for the first time in 80 years. On 26thJuly, after an attack on a flock of mountain sheep left 70 dead, the French authorities issued a rare wolf-hunting licence.

The decision, however, proved to be a controversial one. Many farmers and shepherds who are sharing France’s mountainous regions with the wolves, mainly the Alps and Vosges on the German border, have demanded licences to kill wolves at will. Environmentalists and politicians have condemned their calls.

On 13th August, the herd of sheep farmer Jean-Yves Poirot was attacked during the night. Since May Poirot has lost over 20 animals to the wolves, whose numbers are growing in the Vosges. Exasperated by the loss of his animals, M Poirot decided to sell his farm.

Vosgien farmers received 7 643 euros earlier this month in compensation against wolf attacks. This first compensation payment came from the local authorities. The new shepherd M. Ventron, whose salary will also be 80 per cent state-funded, will monitor the herds of five farmers in the area.

Nevertheless, farmers in the Vosges are still petitioning for authorisation to carry out a wolf cull. Environment Minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet said late last month that she was prepared to relax the rules on wolf hunting under certain conditions, although she has yet to do so.

In the 1930s, wolves were completely eradicated from France. They have been gradually reintroduced since 1992. According to official estimates, France has anywhere between 150 and 200 wolves, roaming mostly in the French Alps. Licences have been granted to hunt a total of six wolves in France since 2004.