Supervisor:

The return of wolves in the French Alps in 1992 brought back the obligation of conserving the new settled population of large carnivores as well as the dilemma of taking measures in order to protect human activities that were affected by its return. In 2007, the wolf population has reached a number of 23 established packs and is negatively affecting sheep husbandry and traditional pastoralism in the French Alps. Authorities implemented different action plans with the double objective of maintaining the wolf population and reducing the impacts it has on sheep husbandry. This thesis seeks to understand the social impacts that the wolf’s return has had on sheep herders, but also looks at other existing problems, notably economic ones. Data was obtained through existing document and interviews in the field. The first attempt of those interviews was to obtain valuable information about herders ' livelihood. The results then show that the wolf’s return is a real new psychological constraint in the daily life of herders in terms of stress and workload. In addition, the thesis investigates the economic situation of sheep husbandry in France and shows that this agricultural activity is becoming less and less viable and greatly dependent on European subsidies. Finally, the analysis concludes that although the wolf creates direct impacts on herders' lives, one of the main problems lies in the attitudes that different stakeholder groups adopt toward