Illustrative photo: a bear and her cubs in Germany
After the hearing on 8 August, where our lawyer, Hélène Thouy, fought argument after argument against the Prefecture, it will have taken almost ten additional days to close the investigation. Days during which elements of both sides continued to be exchanged mercilessly. But the doubt benefited the bears on every level, especially since the Prefecture had no proof for what they were saying to justify the scaring shots.
Administrative tribunals more and more amenable to arguments in favour of animals
Being daring, which pushed us to attack the interim suspension orders — that is to say to urgently interrupt the shooting being put into practice, — has paid off! Perhaps we rejoice in this victory because we think that the tribunals are more and more open to arguments in favour of animals; perhaps because the climate and biodiversity crisis is finally getting through to the tribunals. Or perhaps our arguments are better and better expressed and backed up by data. Perhaps also because the requirement for the State to set an example expected by our fellow citizens has also ended up affecting the judges, who from now on would like any decision to be substantiated and not to seem arbitrary or to be supporting private interests or any corporatism.
We would like to offer peace to these already fragile bears!
Brown bears in France have disappeared bit by bit over the course of time, under human pressures. There are therefore few bears in the Pyrenees. Their population is stagnating below the threshold of viability for the species. There are only about one hundred bears in France, and they feed mainly on vegetation. We are far from the fantasies and irrational fears spread about them by farmers, who are compensated in any case, and always send their herds to the abattoir.
These scarings, required by the State (in the absence of lethal shots called for by farmers) due to the protected status of the species enjoyed by bears on a European and French level, are harmful nevertheless. Particularly because they are susceptible to preventing the female bears from carrying their pregnancies to term, threatening the survival of the species and the individuals concerned.
Comments 17
Patricia | Wednesday 31 August 2022
Tartine | Monday 29 August 2022
Dominique Benoît | Saturday 27 August 2022
Chantal81 | Friday 26 August 2022