Alpes-de-Haute-Provence: Shooting wolves? The courts say no

The court ruled that these orders were unlawful on two key points. Firstly, the prefecture claimed that cattle herds could not be protected, without providing any concrete evidence to support this. Yet this presumption does not hold water: each situation must be subject to an individualised technical and economic analysis before any shooting authorisation is granted. Secondly, it was incumbent upon the prefect to demonstrate that the farmer had indeed put protective measures in place. This was not the case.

Towards case law that protects wolves better

This verdict in favour of wolves is not an isolated case. It is in fact part of a body of case law built up over time: in 2024, the Administrative Court in Besançon had already struck down similar orders for the same reasons. In January 2026, it was the Court in Nice that overturned seven orders issued by the Prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes region. Victory after victory, a legal precedent is taking shape: exemptions from wolf protection are not an automatic right. They must be earned and justified.

A real victory, but one erased by the government

This decision is good news for the wolves of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. But it comes just as the government’s announcements have come into force. Gone is the obligation to protect herds before being allowed to shoot. Gone is the prior assessment. Farmers will be able to open fire on the basis of a simple declaration, without having to prove anything. What the courts have just condemned — the lack of evidence and protection — is set to become the legal norm.

We have denounced this text, which marks an ethical, ecological and political step backwards, from the very beginning. All the more so as it sends a disastrous signal to those who view wolves not as beings essential to our ecosystems but as targets.

We will not give in!

Faced with this declaration of war, One Voice will not stand idly by. We are preparing our response.

Because the law can be a shield, provided we take hold of it. Because behind the legal proceedings, there are wolf families. Like Milo, Mina and their cubs in Corrèze, threatened by poaching and an illegal hunt organised by the local FDSEA, and narrowly saved thanks to an emergency mobilisation.

Six illegal orders overturned in Marseille, seven in Nice: the case law protecting wolves is advancing. But the government intends to erase it all. To ensure this victory is not the last, we must act now: sign the petition for wolves!

Stop the persecution of wolves! 

Alpes-de-Haute-Provence: Shooting wolves? The courts say no

The courts have overturned six orders against wolves in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. A victory under threat from the government.