  We have surveyed the metal-rich spiral galaxy M83 (NGC5236) for its
Wolf-Rayet population using VLT-FORS2 narrow-band imaging and follow-up
spectroscopy. From a total of 280 candidates identified using HeII 4686
imaging, Multi Object Spectroscopy of 198 sources was carried out, revealing
132 objects containing bona-fide Wolf-Rayet features. From this sample, an
exceptional W-R content of 1030 is inferred, with N(WC)/N(WN)=1.3, continuing
the trend to larger values at higher metallicity amongst Local Group galaxies.
More dramatic is the dominance of late-type WC stars in M83 with
N(WC8-9)/N(WC4-7)=9 which we attribute to the sensitivity of the classification
line CIII 5696 to mass-loss, providing the strength of WC winds scale with
metallicity. One young massive compact cluster, #74 in our catalogue, hosts 20%
of the entire galactic population, namely 180 late WC stars and 50 late WN
stars.
