Description
The various players in mountain environments encounter numerous difficulties in cohabiting with each other and with the wildlife whose territory they share. Thanks to the success of protection and preservation campaigns, rural areas are now faced with new biodiversity challenges, such as the return of predators like the wolf.
As a large predator, the wolf plays an important role in the ecosystem. It contributes to the dispersal of prey herds, enabling them to spread out more evenly over the territory. Among other consequences, this slows down the localized destruction of vegetation and forest stands, as well as the transmission of epizootics among the same prey. Moreover, when they leave carcasses behind, they contribute to the diet of a whole range of other mammals (red fox, stoat, etc.) and birds (jays, chickadees, vultures, lammergeiers, etc.), which is particularly important in winter.
The socio-economic and psychological impact of predation on domestic animals is considerable, and must be supported by the various players in society. All the more so as the means of protecting livestock involve new constraints on a territory shared by different users.
