French Farmers Kidnap Park Chiefs Due To Wolf Attacks
A group of farmers from the French Alps have gone to extreme measures in an attempt to get officials at a national park and government ministers to do more to stop wolf attacks on their livestock. During a meeting with authorities, some 50 farmers effectively kidnapped Guy Chaumereuil and Emmanuel Michau and prevented them from leaving a building overnight.
The two men are important figures at the national park where talks were being held over a new park charter and the farmers decided to use this non-violent form of protest to get maximum exposure. Previously, other workers have done similar things by “bossnapping” senior figures as they generally avoid prosecution and get major concessions from employers.
The farmers are angry about the fact that there have been more than 100 wolf attacks in the past six months and it is seriously affecting their living. They believe that officials at the Vanoise National Park and the government are not doing enough to protect farms.
Many local politicians were sympathetic to the plight of the but urged the farmers to release their captors, while Mr Chaumereuil and Mr Michau were both understanding of the problem in an interview with newspaper Le Dauphine after being let go.
