THE WOLVES OF GEVAUDAN by Isabelle’s 4B students

The Wolves of “Sainte Lucie’s Park”

Langogne

The Wolf Park of Sainte Lucie, intro by Isabelle

It has existed for 23 years

There are bout 130 000 visitors every year. The entrance fees pay for the meat to nourish the wolves, but also the facilities and the staff.

Many things to learn about wolves…

… so, Come in … don’t be afraid…

… they won’ t eat you !!!!

In 1961, a journalist, Gerard Ménatory, finds his first two wolves in the forest of Bialowieza in Poland:

“Toundra and Bialow”.

He introduces them into his private reservation (3 hectares) near Mende.In 1962 he creates the “Wildlife Park of Gévaudan”, in Sainte Lucie. It consists in 10 species of animals of Europe: there are 5 wolves.

In 1985 the park was developed. But it was only intended to accept wolves.

In 1986 there were 26 wolves in the park. 7 more wolves arrived from Poland.

In 1995 there were 130 wolves in the park and 128,000 visitors had come to see them.

How it all started…. By Lucie

Nowadays we can see 5species of wolves in the Park: ( Lucie ctd)• Wolves from Poland: Canis

Lupus Lupus• Wolves from Canada : Canis

Lupus Machenzii (black, white, or grey)

• Arctic Wolves from Canada: Canis Lupus arctos

• Wolves from Siberia: Canis lupus albus (high fair colour size )

• Wolves from Mongolia: Canis Lupus Chanco (Tawny, almost russet fur; semi- desert, native of zones close to the desert of Gobi)

Polish wolf

Canadian

Mongolia

Siberia

HABITAT- The vast beech and pine tree forests (Carpathians).- Biesczczady national parks; Gorce (Beskides).- Biebrza marshes and peat bogs - The oldest forest massifin Europe including the Bialowieza national park.- Babia, Gora and Mazurie national parks.SITUATION- Limited quotas of wolves to be killed are set by the Polishauthorities in the northwest of the county. This explains whythe animal has colonised the province of Brandenburg in Germanysince 1991. - In Poland the wolf’s main prey are deer, roe deer and wild boar.UNPROTECTED SPECIES, HUNTED IN ONE DISTRICT (GORSOW).Between 800 and 1,000 wolves. (This is on the increase).

Here below: a copy of the

French translation into English.

A page from the website:

les loups du gévaudanhttp://www.loupsdugevaudan.com/index.php3?id_gmenu=8934&langue=fr

The pack of wolves , by Ludivine

The size of a pack depends on the type of hunted prey, on the environment or on the human pressure. It consists generally in a group of 4 to 6 individuals, for a territory of about 200 to 300 km2. the same family is composed of a reproductive couple, 2 wolf cubs of the year and sometimes young wolves of the previous year. There is no confrontation. When the young wolf is 2 years old, it leaves the pack in search of a new territory. The clans are very close together. The dominant couple, especially the male, makes the decisions concerning the movements or the hunting. In the clans, every individual looks after the younger wolf cubs.

Reproduction, by Elodie• It takes place from mid-January to mid-March. It is at that

period that the adult males compete among themselves to determine the dominant male. Same for the females. Only the dominant couple mates and gives an offspring.

• During that particular period, grunts and screams become more and more frequent.

• If a couple remains dominant over 3 years, the 2 year- old young wolf will leave to find another territory, another pack.

Behaviour ,by Myriam The wolves flee the man. They are very difficult to seen be in nature. They prefer to hunt out at dawn or at dusk, thus avoiding moving at the hottest hours of the day.

Domination and submission Very quickly, the young wolf adopts a crawling position, bends the head, and closes its mouth. Conversely, with its the chops rolled up, the ears pointed forward, the mane erectile and staring at the other wolves: this is the expression of a predominance.