France to allow wolf hunt after attack

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PARIS, July 26 (UPI) -- French authorities say they have issued a rare wolf-hunting license after an attack on a mountain herd left more than 70 sheep dead.

In the attack on a flock of about 1,500 sheep last week by a suspected lone wolf, 10 were killed outright and 62 were killed when they went over a cliff as the herd stampeded in panic, France24 reported.

Yves Derbez, representing 347 herdsmen in the region of the attack, urgently called for tighter regulation of wolf numbers as their population has grown in France.

"We have to take concrete measures now before sheep herding is completely wiped out in France," he said.

Wolves were completely eradicated in France in the 1930s, but have been gradually reintroduced since 1992.

Officials estimate 150 to 200 wolves are in France, mostly in the French Alps.