Wolves of the Vercors

The wolf fascinates as much as it worries. How many live in the Vercors? Could you cross paths with one? How does it coexist with shepherds? Rather than debating around a table, the Pied Vert mountain leaders take you into the field to find the answers yourself.

What you will experience

Along Vercors paths, your guide teaches you to read the mountain like a tracker:

• Tracks and signs: prints in mud or snow, hair caught on barbed wire, meal leftovers (the so-called "kills"), each detail tells a story
• The wolf unmasked: how to tell it from a dog or a fox, understand life in a pack, hunting techniques
• 2 million years of history: from the prehistoric wolf to the natural return into the Alps from Italy
• The pastoral debate: real impact on flocks, protection schemes, what kind of coexistence?

This is not a lecture. It is an immersion: we walk, we look, we ask, we discover. And if luck smiles, we come across fresh signs.

Practical information

• Duration: half day, full day or several days (with a hide to watch mountain wildlife)
• Season: year-round, snow makes tracking easier in winter
• Level: the route is adapted to the physical ability of the group
• Departure: from Villard-de-Lans, Autrans, Méaudre, Corrençon, Rencurel or villages near La Chapelle-en-Vercors. We can also start from your accommodation
• Leader: naturalist mountain leader from the Pied Vert team

Reviews

Wolf FAQ

After an outing on the trail of the wolf, you will probably be able to answer these questions:

Can you see wolves in France?

Wolves are gradually retaking rural France. Coming up from Italy, they now occupy a small part of French territory with permanent presence zones in the Alps, the Massif Central, the Pyrenees, the Vosges...

Do they live near you? During the outing, we can review the wolf's presence near your home from ONCFS (wolf network) data.

Where to see wolves in Isère?

In the Vercors, in the Chartreuse, on the Belledonne massif... maybe even in the Grésivaudan valley?!

But where are the packs, how many wolves are in them, and will you manage to outwit their vigilance for a fleeting sighting?

How do you tell a wolf from a dog?

Wolves, like dogs, belong to the same species Canis Lupus. No wonder they look so similar (though looking at a chihuahua makes you wonder about human influence). In France, wolves have a few physical traits that allow an attempt at differentiation in the field or from a photo. These include the white lip mask, the black line on the forelegs, and the size of the tail.

How do you tell a wolf print from a fox print?

Although the wolf is rarely seen in France, plenty of clues hint at its presence. Still, you need to separate the wheat from the chaff, that is, a fox print from a possible wolf (or dog?) print.

How should you react if you meet a wolf?

Make the most of it. It is a rare encounter with wild fauna. A bit anxious? The animal in front of you is almost certainly more so, at least at our latitudes.

What does a wolf eat?

Little children, of course... More seriously, the wolf is a predator. It has a taste for wild berries like raspberries, but its diet is mainly made of roe deer, red deer hinds and chamois.

How does the wolf hunt?

This question overlaps the previous one, echoing the wolf's social life. A wolf is a poor solo predator, its strength is in the pack.

Not the wolf for you? Our naturalists also offer the deer rut, the agility of chamois, or a wildlife outing among the wild species of the Vercors.

Bibliography

To continue the journey through reading.

Books

• Le Loup: une histoire culturelle, Michel Pastoureau, Beaux-Livres, 2018
• La sagesse des loups, Elli H. Radinger, Tredaniel La Maisnie, 2018
• Le loup, Jean-Marc Landry, Delachaux, 2017

Online resources

• Wolf network newsletter (oncfs.gouv.fr)
• Loupfrance.fr (French Biodiversity Office)

Also discover

Our outings on the tracks of Alpine animals: