Mountain galliformes: in 2025, a first victory, and hearings to come!
In 2025, mountain galliformes are once again being targeted in the Alps and the Pyrenees. Despite the alarming state of their populations, prefects persist in wanting to place these birds, who only aspire to live in peace, before the hunters’ guns. Since 2021, One Voice has been stepping up its efforts to put an end to this archaic practice. On 22 September 2025, the Administrative Court of Appeal in Marseille ruled in our favour in a landmark decision. This sends a clear message to the prefects, that we will take to court again this year to obtain an emergency suspension of the shootings. The first hearings will be held on 7 October 2025 at 10:00 a.m. at the Administrative Court in Marseille for the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence region, on 14 October at 10:00 a.m. at the Administrative Court in Grenoble for the Savoie and Haute-Savoie regions and for black grouse and rock partridges in the Isère region, and on 15 October at 9 a.m. for hazel grouse in the Isère region.
Hunted… to the last?
Adapted to extreme conditions, galliformes are animals that are emblematic of our mountain peaks. From black grouse to rock partridges and hazel grouse, these discreet birds are bearing the brunt of climate change, human disturbance and the increasing scarcity of their habitat. As if that weren’t enough, every year when autumn arrives, hunters take out their guns and proceed to methodically kill them.
From the Alps to the Pyrenees, prefects continue to authorise their killing by the hundreds, even thousands. We do not and never will accept that a small, ultra-minority group may appropriate nature and arrogate to itself the right of life and death over all animals that wish to live there in peace.
In 2025, already a major victory
In 2023 and 2024, our actions saved thousands of individuals. Victories are multiplying, and yet the message does not seem to be getting through to the authorities. In the Savoie region, the prefect is planning to cull up to 617 rock partridges this year, based on reproduction rates. When will we stop giving hunters these undeserved privileges?
On 22 September 2025, the Administrative Court of Appeal in Marseille once again ruled in our favour in a landmark decision, once more dismissing the hunters’ arguments. No, birds on the brink of extinction cannot be killed for pleasure! Once again, we will be taking this message to the courts in the coming weeks.
Faced with the hunters’ underhand strategies, hearings to come
This year, hunters are not hesitating to use underhand strategies. In the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Hautes-Alpes and Alpes-Maritimes regions, the presidents of the regional federations have simply chosen not to publish the decisions by which they allocate hunting quotas in their regions. This is an obvious strategy to prevent us from taking action, but it will not stop us.
The first hearings will be held on 7 October 2025 at 10:00 a.m. for the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence at the Administrative Court in Marseille, on 14 October 2025 at 10:00 a.m. for Savoie, at 10:15 a.m. for Haute-Savoie and then at 11:00 a.m. for Isère (black grouse and rock partridge), and on 15 October at 9:00 a.m. for hazel grouse in Isère, at the Administrative Court in Grenoble. In the meantime, sign our petition to demand a clear and definitive ban on hunting species with a poor conservation status.