Valery Hache/AFP/Getty Images

FRANCE will let its wolf population grow by 40 per cent, despite anger from farmers worried for their sheep.

Wolves were eradicated from France by hunting in the 1930s, but since the 90s they have been creeping back from Italy. There are now thought to be 360 wolves in France.

The government announced a new strategy this week that will allow the population to grow to 500 by 2023. To appease farmers, 10 per cent of the population may be culled each year. Farmers are also authorised to shoot any time their flocks are under attack.

Around …