The new report has been published "Annual balance sheet for the population of loups 2025" of the Loup-lynx network coordinated by the Office Français de la Biodiversité, which offers an updated picture of the wolf's presence in France. In the winter of 2024-2025, the population is estimated to be between 989 and 1.187 individuals, with an average of 1.082 lupi, slightly higher than the estimate for the previous winter (approximately 1.013 individuals). However, the data from the last four years indicate a different dynamic compared to the past: the population seems to have stabilized, with births compensating for losses but without significant growth.
One of the most important indicators concerns the population survivalBetween 2019 and 2025 the average annual survival rate was 66%, while in the period 2014-2018 it was approximately 72%The authors of the report point out that 66% represents a critical threshold, below which a population can begin to decline. The reduction in survival is mainly linked to the increase in legal culling.
Mortality data confirm this pressure. Among November 2024 and October 2025 they were found dead 282 wolves in France. The main cause is represented by the legal abatements, which constitute the 64,3% of cases, followed by the road collisions 21,9%. The poaching represents the 7,4%, while a small share is attributed to other causes or remains undetermined. The report also recalls that these numbers are underestimated, because many dead animals are never found.
From a genetic point of view, in France today there are three genetic lines of wolvesThe vast majority belong to the line Italo-Alpine, derived from natural recolonization from Italy. However, there are also individuals of the lineage German-Polish, originating from Central Europe, and very rarely from the line Dinaric. They have also been documented mixed breeding between Italian-Alpine and German-Polish wolves, a phenomenon considered positive because it contributes to increasing the genetic diversity of the population.
The report also highlights several local news. In 2025 the first reproduction in the plains of the Grand Est, in the Haute-Marne department, with at least seven cubs. The first presence of an Italian-Alpine wolf in Brittany, while in the department of Lozère four new packs have been confirmed. More generally, an increasingly widespread presence is observed in the Massif Central and western France, a sign that the colonization process continues.
All this is possible thanks to a vast monitoring networkThe Loup-lynx network today counts over 5.000 active correspondents out of more than 6.000 people trained. In 2025 alone, 1,000 were trained 281 new observers, and about 1.000 people collected clues on the ground, contributing to the collection of data used in the report.
Overall, the document highlights that the French wolf population it is no longer in the rapid growth phase, but is in a condition of fragile stability. The survival data itself – stuck at 66%, that is, on the minimum threshold considered compatible with population stability – suggests an important reflection: when a population approaches this limit, even small increases in mortality can have significant effects in the medium term. In other words, the species may appear stable in overall numbers but actually be close to a delicate ecological threshold, where additional anthropogenic pressures risk compromising the balances achieved.
In light of the recent downgrading of the wolf's protection status at European levelThese data also offer further food for thought. The French management system, which already includes culling quotas and targeted interventions, was developed within the previous regulatory framework, when the wolf was still fully protected by the Habitats Directive. This demonstrates that management and intervention tools already existed, and could have been applied even before the European regulatory change. The real issue, as the data shows, is not so much the possibility of intervening as how to balance management and conservation, preventing the increase in mortality from pushing the population beyond a threshold that could compromise its long-term stability.
https://www.loupfrance.fr/suivi-du-loup/situation-du-loup-en-france/