Victory in the Council of State: Hunting of rock ptarmigan finally suspended!
Every year, the French government authorises the hunting of rock ptarmigan, a bird species that is in decline and seriously threatened by climate change. In 2024, the Ecological Committee of the Ariège region (CEA), the League for the Protection of Birds (LPO) and One Voice asked the Ministry of Ecological Transition for a moratorium on hunting to save these galliformes. Faced with the Ministry’s implicit refusal, the associations appealed to the Council of State. Its decision, handed down on 2 March 2026, ruled in favour of our associations and ordered the government to suspend hunting for five years.
An increasingly rare and endangered species
Found mainly in the Arctic and boreal regions of Northern Europe, rock ptarmigans now only survive in the Alps and Pyrenees in small isolated groups, separated from their main habitat since the end of the last ice age. Perfectly adapted to the cold, these mountain galliformes live at altitudes between 1,800 and 3,000 metres and can withstand temperatures as low as -35°C!
Climate change poses an existential threat to these inhabitants of the peaks, exacerbated by the disturbance caused by human activities in the high mountains (overcrowding, construction of new infrastructure, etc.). Included on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the species is experiencing an alarming decline: since the mid-20th century, the number of municipalities where it is present has fallen by 33% in the Alps and 21% in the Pyrenees.
Despite this extremely unfavourable context, France stubbornly continues to authorise the hunting of rock ptarmigans every year, thereby adding further unjustified pressure on this fragile species.
Five years of respite for rock ptarmigans: a legal victory for our associations
For years, associations have been fighting to put an end to these unacceptable deaths, which are incompatible with the survival of these birds in our mountains, systematically challenging the annual authorisations in court – and successfully so. In the Ariège region alone, nearly 20 successive court decisions have overturned or suspended hunting orders.
Faced with the Ministry’s refusal to act, the Council of State ruled and upheld the law!
According to Thierry de Noblens (CEA), “This decision by the highest court is a real satisfaction. A big thank you to our Federation’s lawyer, Hervé Hourcade. Previously, we saw how hard the State services and the Ministry itself have worked over the last two decades to keep rock ptarmigan hunting going to please a few hunters… while giving lots of media coverage to fine speeches about preserving biodiversity.”
According to Allain Bougrain Dubourg (LPO), ‘Once again, the law, through the voice of the Council of State, has spoken out in favour of biodiversity. It thus offers some respite to this endangered species. We now expect the Ministry to take measures for all endangered species that are still hunted in our country.’
According to Muriel Arnal (One Voice), “Every year, we have had to tirelessly take legal action to defend these magnificent, fragile birds against prefectures that handed them over to hunters and their thirst for killing. This strong decision by the Council of State gives them a real respite. And we can only dream that the Ministry responsible for Nature will finally protect all mountain galliformes… “