PNA MOUFLON. Plan National d'Actions en faveur du Mouflon de Corse (Ovis gmelini musimon var. corsicana)

The Corsican Mouflon (Ovis gmelini musimon var. corsicana), emblematic animal of the island, has its origins in the mountains of the Middle East. From the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, it disappeared from many massifs of Corsica. Today there are two populations, the one of the Cinto massif (north) and the one of the Bavella massif (south), with two disjointed distribution areas. Three initiatives will allow to avoid its disappearance in the 1950s and will lay the foundations of conservation and development actions, until obtaining, almost 70 years later, the status of protected species, on March 1st, 2019. Almost a century after its collapse, and despite the conservation actions undertaken, the Corsican Mouflon is still vulnerable today. The demography observed within the Bavella population even raises many questions, especially on its ability to persist in the long term in a context of global changes, habitat fragmentation and development of human activities (livestock, outdoor activities ...). Until now, research and conservation actions were focused on the species. The strategy of the National Action Plan (NAP) has been elaborated in an «ecosystemic» research axis. Following the assessment of the knowledge, through the identification of the pressures on the species, 11 actions are proposed to ensure the recovery of the species in a good conservation status on the whole of its current area of presence and the new areas of colonization established in the framework of the reinforcement program. Beyond this PNA, the implementation of a real policy of recovery and conservation of the Corsican Mouflon by the territorial actors appears indispensable for the sustainability of the species.