As discussed in the previous chapter, for centuries wolves were considered humanity's worst natural enemy.

Western European countries went to considerable lengths to contain and eventually eradicate wolves from much of the continent. In France, residual resident or territorial wolves were eliminated between 1882 and 1930. The last reward for a dead wolf was given in 1896 and the final known wolf-on-human attack took place in 1918 (Moriceau 2013a; 2013b). Consequently, for almost a century the species was absent as a resident species in France, with dispersing lone wolves shot or chased as ‘escapees’ (Bernard 1981; Moriceau 2013a).

However, in 1992 wolves started to steadily recolonise the French Alps from Italy. They are currently resident in South-Eastern France and have started to recolonise the Vosges mountain range. Dispersive young wolves from the eastern populations are also progressively settling further into the French interior and other parts of Europe. This spectacular recovery, aided by the full protection of the EU Habitats Directive, has placed the wolf in a positive light as an ambassador species for the restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems, emblematic for ecologically sustainable management and the protection of the countryside.

The return of the wolf received a largely positive response from the general public, including many city-dwellers. Among supporters, wolves are regarded as ‘super-predators’ deserving full protection. However, this perspective often fails to acknowledge that wolves were once reviled as foul and cunning man-eating beasts, as the eminent scientist Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon branded the species in his Histoire Naturelle (1749–83). Indeed, there is much French historical documentation, illustration and oral testament describing dangerous interactions of wolves with people, as there is elsewhere in Europe where wolves were long existent (Bernard 1981). The dark rural memories of the Big Bad Wolf once held by agro-communities and wolf opponents resurfaced as farmers began to experience wolf attacks on their livestock again. Their concerns (Fig 2.1a) are not entirely unfounded, as cultural-historical analysis reveals.

The so-called ‘wolf wars’ of old in France and other parts of southern Europe tend to be overlooked by some authors and biologists who, portraying the wolf as a benign and charismatic animal, failed to reflect on the past, and the potential danger wolves pose to humans in a modern Western setting (Linnell et al 2002; Radinger 2004; Alleau and Linnell 2015; Linnell and Alleau 2017; Taake 2020).