Galliformes: hundreds of lives hanging on court decisions
Galliformes are victims of an assault: we will never stop for them, hearing after hearing!
The hunting season for mountain birds is at its peak: in the Alps and Pyrenees, for a few days, shooters relentlessly hunt down grey partridges, ptarmigans, and even black grouse. Whilst we have just learnt that our request has been rejected by the Pau Administrative Tribunal (AT) and that we are still awaiting decisions for Haute-Savoie and Isère, new hearings have been set: 9 October at 9:15am for Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Hautes-Alpes (at the Marseille AT), 10 October at 10am for Savoie (at the Grenoble AT, alongside ASPAS with whom we have worked together), and 11 October at 10am for Ariège (at the Toulouse AT).
Updated 13 October 2023(1):
Victory for mountain Galliformes in the Haute-Alpes!
Today (13 October 2023), the Marseille Administrative Tribunal suspended the decree setting the quotas of rock partridges and black grouse in the department.
This means dozens of birds have been saved thanks to our action and they therefore will not have to fear hunters’ bullets in the weeks to come.
Updated 13 October 2023(2):
Two additional victories, this time for the rock partridges and black grouse in the Haute-Savoie and Alpes de Haute-Provence departments!
The Grenoble Administrative Tribunal (AT) has suspended the decree setting the number of rock partridges that can be killed, as well as the decisions by the President of the Departmental Federation of Hunters who had authorised the killing of 201 black grouse.
In Marseille, the judge ruled that these birds could not be hunted considering the conservation status of their respective species.
In these departments, it is thus the end of a massacre for hundreds of birds who can spend the rest of the opening of the hunting season in peace.
On the other hand, in Ariège, the judge at the Toulouse AT rejected our pleas without any explanation.
Updated 18 October 2023:
Another victory in Savoie! Referred to by One Voice and its partner ASPAS, the Grenoble Administrative Tribunal has today (18 October 2023) suspended the hunting of black grouse and rock partridges; this means that hundreds of them will escape the tragic fate that awaited them. Decision after decision, the legal system confirms that nothing justifies the massacring of these birds!
A hearing has been set by the urgent applications judge at the Nice AT on 2 November for the Alpes-Maritimes department.
Today, the life of a mountain bird is a real obstacle course. They have to fight against global warming, the urbanisation of natural areas, intensive herding… and of course hunters’ bullets. So many scourges for these summit inhabitants who are dying in silence and whose populations are decreasing day by day.
However, each of these mountain birds is simply looking to live in peace. Because this right is constantly denied them and because the State and hunters set upon them, One Voice has been rallying for several years and condemns this type of hunting which is harmful for all animals and mountain environments.
For grey and rock partridges, black grouse, rock ptarmigans, and hazel grouse, we have initiated around ten proceedings. During the hearings, prefects and hunters were content with repeating their usual talking points: it does not matter that guns separate families and that these species are ‘near-threatened’; as long as they are not extinct, they should be able to continue killing them without having to worry!
These arguments are, unfortunately, enough to convince the Pau administrative judge. With no explanation, the Tribunal rejected our plea, even though we were proven right in this department last year.
Department after department, we are giving a voice to each bird, because, threatened or not, none of them deserve to be slaughtered for the pleasure of a few people. The hearings continue; in the days to come, we will be in Marseille, Toulouse, and once again in Grenoble, where we will relentlessly defend these animals that are in danger of dying.
Translated from the French by Joely Justice