Smith Journal — January 2018

011 SMITH JOURNAL

THE SHEPHERDS

Few people could legitimately place wolves

high on their list of major occupational

hazards. But for Jérémy Bertrand and Claire

Texier, the re-emergence of wolves in southern

France is causing a peculiar headache.

Decades of hunting programs had wiped

out France’s wolves by the 1930s, to the relief

of many farmers – and the later regret of

environmentalists. But in the early 1990s the

animals began to reappear, crossing the Alps

from Italy and moving into forested areas that

had sprung up as people moved to the cities.

Enter Bertrand and Texier, both in their 30s,

who’ve chosen careers that stretch back to the

dawn of civilisation: herding sheep. It means

living a fairly ordinary life for approximately

half the year, before taking off on a grand

annual adventure come summer. With the

help of just three colleagues – a trio of scruffy

dogs – the couple spends the warmer months

continuously herding 1600 sheep through

mountain pastures and valleys within France’s

Alpes-de-Haute-Provence region.

Eschewing modern sheep-farming practices

such as electronic tagging and genetic breeding

programs, the couple instead choose to

graze their flock the traditional way – across

unfenced communal land that doubles as a ski

resort in winter. They sleep in solar-powered

shelters, wash in cold water and remain with

their sheep day and night: rain, hail or shine.

The dogs are crucial to getting the job done,

says Nicolas Blandin, a French photographer

who spent four days documenting the

couple’s work in late 2016. Pipo and Juk are

two “mongrel” herding dogs that Bertrand

trained from puppies, while Kalash is a white

Anatolian Shepherd who blends in with the

flock to protect them from predators, and

sleeps in their electrified night enclosure.

“Both herding and guardian dogs are essential

in shepherding; they are a shepherd’s right

arm and they translate his or her directions

into actions,” Blandin explains.

Dogs have long played a key role in fending

off their more aggressive cousins. But in

recent years, wolves have adapted and begun

attacking in the daytime. Last summer,

Bertrand and Texier’s herd suffered eight

daytime wolf attacks. Some traumatised ewes

later gave birth to stillborn lambs.

As debate between environmentalists and

farmers rages over the growing wolf problem,

Bertrand has found himself with a foot in each

camp. His shepherding work helps maintain

and fertilise alpine grasslands sustainably, while

his livelihood – already a difficult and declining

way to make a coin – is being undermined by

the lack of effective wolf population control.

For Bertrand, the issue underscores just

how disconnected we’ve become from

nature. “What sustains our society? On what

foundations have we built our empire? I’m

afraid some of the answers are that we have

increased our dependence, abandoned ancient

wisdom and forced modern slavery upon

people and faraway lands. The presence of the

wolves raises all these questions, and we must

reflect upon them.” KH

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Photographer Nicolas Blandin