French mayor claims WOLVES to blame for devastating fires

French mayor claims WOLVES to blame for devastating fires

The mayor of a commune in the South of France has said recent wildfires that devastated the area were caused partly by wolves.

He said a dramatic increase in the number of local canines had forced many sheep farmers to 'give up', resulting in tracts of land becoming untended and conducive to spreading flames.

'There are more and more wolves,' Gabriel Magne, the mayor of Artigues in Aude department, said. 

'A lot of sheep farmers have given up. This year the forest was not maintained, brush was not cleared and the dry vegetation is conducive to fires that start and spread more quickly than before,' the Daily Telegraph reported. 

The South of France has been devastated by recent wildfires. Pictured: A ferocious fire which spread from La Londe-Les-Maures to the picturesque hilltop town of Bormes-Les-Mimosas

More than 8,000 farm animals - mostly sheep - were killed by wolves in France last year, prompting the government to permit the slaughter of 40 wolves by July next year. Pictured: A raging wildfire as it engulfs a roadside house on the French island of Corsica

Wildfires have ripped through tourist hot spots in southern France, including Bormes-les-Mimosas (pictured)

Pictured: Tourist near Bornes-Les-Mimosas walk on the beach as a blaze rages in the distance earlier this week 

Fires have caused mayhem in southern Europe, with more than 10,000 people â€" including celebrities and royalty â€" forced from homes, hotels and campsites in the middle of the night earlier this week.

They described pine trees 'lit up like matches' as the tinderbox forests at the back of the Riviera went up in flames.

Wolves were on the verge of dying out in France at the beginning of the 20th century but their population has tripled in recent years after many migrated from Italy. 

More than 8,000 farm animals - mostly sheep - were killed by wolves in France last year, prompting the government to permit the slaughter of 40 wolves by July next year.

The mayor of Artigues in the South of France said a dramatic increase in the number of local wolves had forced many sheep farmers to 'give up', resulting in tracts of land becoming untended and conducive to the spreading of flames. Pictured: A file image of wolves

Wolves were on the verge of dying out in France at the beginning of the 20th century but their population has tripled in recent years after many migrated from Italy. Pictured: Artigues, France 

That represents about 10 per cent of the wolf population in the country. 

Unsurprisingly, Mayor Magne was given support by local farmers, one of whom - Gilbert Villa - said: 'We used to be paid for clearing brush with our sheep, but I gave up two years ago because of the wolves.'

Michel Meuret from the French Institute for Agricultural Research, meanwhile, said if the government gave farmers contracts to clear the brush then fires would spread much less quickly.

Yesterday two teenage boys appeared before a judge on suspicion of deliberately starting one of the wildfires that devastated parts of south-eastern France and Cor sica last week.

This incredible image shows the devastation (in grey) wrought by wildfires near Bormes-les-Mimosas on the French Riviera

Vast stretches of scorched earth creeps up to the fences of homes in Biguglia, Corsica, as firefighters desperately battle to save buildings from wildfires in the region

Authorities warned that the danger is far from over even though they have tamed most of the blazes that scorched over 7,000 hectares (17,300 acres) of land, destroyed homes and forced the evacuation of thousands in the worst fires France has seen in more than a decade.

The boys, both aged 16, were stopped on Wednesday by police who believed that arson was the cause of the blaze in Carro, west of Marseille, where 150 hectares (370 acres) of land were burnt.

The man in charge of the Riviera-Provence-Alps council said the 'main problem' is that so many fires have been started on purpose. 

He added: 'It's incredibly destructive and the criminals resp onsible should face severe penalties.'

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