This September morning, the president of the LPO (League for the Protection of Birds), Allain Bougrain-Dubourg, has a smile: “It is always exciting to see that we are not fighting for nothing. »
While the migration period began at the end of August, white storks, classified as a protected species, are making a remarkable return to the French sky. Until breaking “a record” in the Rhône valley, where, as reported by France Bleu, 3,200 of these waders were counted on the single day of September 3. “We can talk about a reconquest! »insists the specialist.
These migrants have come close to extinction. “There were only 10 pairs of white storks in the 1970s in Alsace compared to no less than 6,000 in the territory today…” Alone, the “ordeal” of migration to Central Africa is responsible for the death of 75% of those on their first trip, due to their lack of experience and their fragility. But “white storks also have to deal with an environment that is very unfavorable to their survival.”
The high voltage lines, first, that they are numerous to strike. But also desertification: “Crossing arid lands, the ordeal of which is becoming longer, has become particularly formidable. » An ambivalent context. “With global warming, 1,500 to 2,000 storks now spend the winter in France, particularly in the South. »
An unprecedented sedentary lifestyle, which has the double advantage of reducing their mortality rate and allowing them to “be in good shape when spring arrives, when the reproductive period begins”.
“It obliges. The environment in which they live, all or part of the year, must also be rethought”, insists on this subject Bougrain-Dubourg, welcoming the work of animal protection associations: installation of poles to help with nesting, agreements ( concluded between the LPO and the network operator Enedis) intended to equip the most sensitive sites in order to reduce the risk of collision with electrical installations…
And to remember: if the return of the stork “is very good news”, its return will be “not without side effects”. Already, herpetologists (specialists in reptiles and amphibians) are concerned about the preservation of some of the protected species on which the latter feeds. When biologists rejoice, on the contrary, that it participates in the reduction of invasive species, such as the white-clawed crayfish, a food resource particularly appreciated by waders.
A “complex” equation, recognizes the specialist. “Apart from the fact that we can be happy about it for its own sake, we can predict that the return of the white stork will rather be a contribution to the balance of biodiversity,” he explains.