Bears in the Haute-Garonne department: against the prefect's maneuvers, we attack!
For years, we’ve been alerting public opinion to the consequences of bear scare shots. Yet the State seems determined not to heed our warnings: not only are these operations multiplying, but prefects are doing everything they can to prevent us from attacking them. This month, the prefect of Haute-Garonne issued three such decrees. What’s special about them? The measures are in force for very short periods – 48 to 72 hours – and the authorizations are published very late. The aim is clear: to prevent bear defenders from taking legal action to protect the bears.
On July 30, we urgently referred to the Toulouse administrative court to put an end to these reprehensible practices. We are asking the judge to order the Haute-Garonne prefecture to publish its decrees before they come into force, as is the rule. The hearing will take place this Friday, August 2 at 9:30 am.
For the State: reintroduce bears to better abuse them?
A few years ago, bears had all but disappeared from French mountains. After reintroducing them with great fanfare, the State now seems determined to make life impossible for them. While their numbers are still insufficient to ensure the viability of the species, they are regularly targeted by scare shots.
Stress during the breeding season, abortions, separation of the young from their mothers: these operations represent a real threat. That’s why we systematically attack them! In 2022 and 2023, our emergency actions in the Ariège department led to the suspension of shooting.
Adapting to the prefects’ maneuvers by any means necessary
When it comes to killing animals, we’re used to having to adapt to the most unfair strategies adopted by hunters and State representatives.
In 2022, the Prefect of Ariège had no hesitation in issuing new illegal orders despite the judge’s suspension of all nine orders. Our arguments were successful, three times in a row. The following year, she began a trend of making shooting authorizations public… just a few hours before they were due to take place. We were therefore obliged to mobilize an exceptional procedure, enabling us to bring the matter before the judge very quickly, which once again bore fruit.
This year, it’s the turn of the Prefect of Haute-Garonne to use this stratagem, with even less shame. Three decrees were published on July 10, 17 and 30… a few hours before the end of operations, leaving us no opportunity to defend the bears. If scare shots are so necessary and important, as the prefectures claim, why adopt such short-lived orders, if not to prevent them from being contested?
We have once again urgently referred to the Toulouse administrative court to force the Prefect of Haute-Garonne to publish his orders sufficiently in advance for us to be able to contest them and thus protect the bears. The hearing will take place this Friday, August 2 at 9:30 am.