Bird trapping with glue, illegal possession and release of wild animals... Two men brought to justice

Just as others collect stamps, these residents of Carcès kept around twenty wild animals in their home. A complaint from the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Bird Protection League (LPO) prompted the French Biodiversity Agency (OFB) to launch an investigation into what was going on in this house. The search carried out on site in November 2024 speaks for itself: no fewer than 22 Hermann’s tortoises, two Asian rose-ringed parakeets, a grosbeak, a European greenfinch, and a song thrush were seized. And they are not the only ones to have fallen into the hands of these individuals.

Abuse and irresponsibility

How did all these animals end up in their captivity? Although the defendants deny having captured any birds in the wild, explaining that they “found them […] on the ground, injured or in poor condition” and took them in to care for them, the findings of the investigation formally contradict their statements. Traces of glue were found on the birds’ feathers, an undeniable sign that they had struggled in birdlime, an extremely cruel hunting technique which, in addition to injuring its targets, is completely non-selective. One might also question the so-called care they were supposedly given, given their dire condition at the time of the search. One had wounds above its beak, a second had a locked up shoulder and a large bruise, and a third had all the quills on its right wing broken, among other injuries. This calls into question the qualities of their “caretakers”…

Did they also think they were doing the right thing by releasing rose-ringed parakeets and red-eared sliders, classified as invasive alien species, into the wild, which is strictly prohibited? What became of them, left to fend for themselves in an environment that was not their own and whose ecosystem they would inevitably disrupt?

These are sentient beings, not trophies or commodities!

For more than ten years, one of the defendants had been posting photos of himself on social media with a kite, squirrels, falcons, and many others. Once again, humans have messed around by subjugating wild animals on a whim, like Akilla‘s “owner”, and at the risk of their lives. While the birds and turtles locked up in Carcès over the years do not appear to have been victims of trafficking in addition to everything else, this is far from always being the case in these dark affairs. Wildlife trafficking is one of the most lucrative illegal trades, along with drugs and weapons. And it is the animals that pay the price. We will not tolerate them continuing to suffer this fate with impunity.

We will be present as a civil party at the hearing to be held at the Draguignan legal tribunal September 4 at 8:45 a.m. We expect the judges to defend all wild animals that have been illegally captured, transported, confined, and released.