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Unlimited badger massacre in the Tarn region: hearing on October 28, 2024

Unlimited badger massacre in the Tarn region: hearing on October 28, 2024

Unlimited badger massacre in the Tarn region: hearing on October 28, 2024
23.10.2024
Tarn
Unlimited badger massacre in the Tarn region: hearing on October 28, 2024
Hunting

In the middle of the hunting season, in the village of Bannières, the Tarn prefecture has decided to outdo everyone else by ordering an administrative beat hunt, targeting badgers by shooting, digging up and trapping. The order is motivated by “damage” that has not even been demonstrated, and, among other irregularities, authorizes the use of an illegal trap. We demand the urgent suspension of this deadly and unlawful text at the Toulouse administrative court on Monday October 28, at 3pm.

In the Tarn region, badgers must flee from bullets from September 8, 2024 to February 28, 2025, and until January 15, 2025, they will also be hunted down in their burrows. But that wasn’t enough for the prefecture. Quick to please the hunters, it took advantage of damage to a farmer’s land to add to this massacre an administrative beat hunt lasting over a month in Bannières (81). From September 28 to November 3, badgers unfortunate enough to live on the town’s territory are being persecuted. To kill as many as possible, no limit having been set, all means are good: shooting, digging up and trapping. Above all, leave them no chance of survival.

Illegal and senseless persecution

In addition to its cruelty, the text published by the State is completely illegal. Where is the evidence of the “significant damage” allegedly caused by badgers? Not only does the decree fail to demonstrate this, it also uses it to order culling methods that contravene regulations. Digging up badgers can only be carried out by approved teams of diggers? No matter! If the lieutenant of louveterie and pests so desires, he can “enlist approved trappers” who are not normally qualified to carry out this practice. They’ll be delighted with this. As with the use of snares, traps theoretically reserved only for foxes and which horribly injure animals desperately struggling in them. The icing on the cake is that no mandatory public participation procedure was organized before these measures came into force. And this is just a sample of the irregularities we have identified.

In the face of our victories for badgers, hunters and prefectures persist: we counter-attack!

All over France, our actions against the supplementary periods of underground hunting have led to a reduction in this practice. In 2024, we saved the lives of over 4,000 badgers. A development that hunters and prefectures are fighting hand in hand, multiplying administrative beat hunts and going so far as to trample on court rulings! We won’t let them. Once again, we’re attacking the decree issued by the Tarn prefecture. On behalf of the badgers who have fallen victim to this text, we referred the matter to the Toulouse administrative court on October 8, and will be requesting its suspension as a matter of urgency at the hearing on Monday October 28.

Join us in demanding protection for badgers and a ban on digging: sign our petition!

Action on October 29 before the Aix-en-Provence court of appeal against the transfer of Wikie and Keijo

Action on October 29 before the Aix-en-Provence court of appeal against the transfer of Wikie and Keijo

Action on October 29 before the Aix-en-Provence court of appeal against the transfer of Wikie and Keijo
23.10.2024
Alpes-Maritimes
Action on October 29 before the Aix-en-Provence court of appeal against the transfer of Wikie and Keijo
Dolphinariums

In January 2024, the legal tribunal of Grasse forbade Marineland to move the orcas before the end of the independent expert assessment we had obtained from the court of appeal of Aix-en-Provence. Marineland immediately appealed this decision. On Tuesday October 29, the magistrates will hear the trainers’ request. One Voice will represent the two orcas at the hearing. To prevent Wikie and Keijo from being transferred to another dolphinarium, we invite you to join our activists outside the court of appeal from 8.45am to 11am.

Just over a year ago, Moana passed away. A few months later, Inouk died too, leaving Wikie and Keijo alone and grieving. Since then, we have ensured that the independent expert assessment we obtained concerning the health of the two deceased orcas and the state of Marineland’s facilities will continue. The park has always opposed this assessment, despite the extremely worrying situation of the animals it holds. When the administrative court in Grasse forbade it to move them before the independent experts had completed their work, the dolphinarium appealed. Its objective is clear: to get rid of the orcas as quickly as possible.

Wikie and Keijo must not be sent to other places of death! 

If the Aix-en-Provence court of appeal were to rule in Marineland’s favor, the two survivors would be sent without further delay to even smaller tanks than those in which they have been held since birth. Whether transferred to Japan or Loro Parque in Tenerife, mother and son would be separated from each other, permanently shattering their family and the little psychic equilibrium they have left. In either case, Wikie would once again be exploited for reproduction, unwillingly giving birth to new offspring who would in turn suffer from captivity for the rest of their lives. Provided they manage to survive… If the November 2021 law has, as it boasts, succeeded in protecting the smallest animal, it has in any case consciously forgotten to concern itself with the orcas.

They need urgent care…..

For years, we have been sounding the alarm about Moana and Inouk. Their state of health was critical, and it was vital that a competent team should intervene, as we have repeatedly stated, backed up by expert reports. The dolphinarium let the two orcas die, and today, when we warn that Wikie and Keijo are in no condition to be transported and urgently need appropriate care, our demands are once again brushed aside? We will not allow the two survivors to be sacrificed on the altar of profit!

….. before they can join a sanctuary

If they are able to recover, we are prepared to offer them a dignified retirement in a sanctuary off the coast of Nova Scotia. This project, which we have been working on with the Whale Sanctuary Project for some time, is the only viable one for Wikie and Keijo. The authors of the report commissioned by the Ministry of Ecology and published last September, studied our proposal and concluded that it should be explored. We’re counting on it… It’s about time!

On Tuesday October 29, from 8.45am to 11am, join us in front of the court of appeal in Aix-en-Provence to refuse to allow Marineland to send Wikie and Keijo to foreign tanks! And sign our petition for a sanctuary!

Samba in Noisy-le-Grand: what are the authorities waiting for to save her?

Samba in Noisy-le-Grand: what are the authorities waiting for to save her?

Samba in Noisy-le-Grand: what are the authorities waiting for to save her?
23.10.2024
Seine-Saint-Denis
Samba in Noisy-le-Grand: what are the authorities waiting for to save her?
Circuses

The Cirque d’Europe, which has been exploiting Samba for over twenty years now, is currently stationed in the town of Noisy-le-Grand. The elephant’s condition is more worrying than ever. Once again, we are lodging a complaint and demanding that she be seized and placed in a sanctuary.

After a brief stint in the Seine-et-Marne region, Samba is now in the Seine-Saint-Denis region, as and when the Cirque d’Europe moves. While we were concerned about her excess weight a year and a half ago, we are now dismayed by her emaciation. With her back hollowed out and hidden between two trailers in a Noisy-le-Grand parking lot, Samba appears gaunt. Her condition has seriously deteriorated since our last complaint in June.

Two decades of fighting

A place awaits her in a sanctuary. We’re ready to take care of all the logistics of her transfer, her medical care, and to provide her with all the attention she’ll need for the rest of her life, at our own expense. What are the authorities doing to get her out of there? Our government has announced the end of wild animals’ presence in traveling circuses in 2028. Are they waiting for the animals to die, or for them to be sent abroad so they don’t have to worry about their fate when the ban comes into force? Nothing is being done to put an end to their ordeal, and even reproduction, despite the ban, continues.

The Mayor of Noisy-le-Grand is mobilizing within her capacity. We thank her for this and assure her of our support in the procedures she has initiated.

We are lodging a new complaint, this time with the public prosecutor of the Bobigny judicial court, and requesting Samba’s immediate seizure. We can organize her transfer as soon as today, at no cost to the State. Sign our petition demanding Samba’s placement in a sanctuary.

Sign for Samba’s placement in a sanctuary. Sign for Samba’s placement in a sanctuary. Sign for Samba’s placement in a sanctuary. Sign for Samba’s placement in a sanctuary. Sign for Samba’s placement in a sanctuary. Sign for Samba’s placement in a sanctuary. Sign for Samba’s placement in a sanctuary. Sign for Samba’s placement in a sanctuary. Sign for Samba’s placement in a sanctuary. Sign for Samba’s placement in a sanctuary.

For Guinea, a young sow killed in the Indre region during a hunting party, we are lodging a complaint.

For Guinea, a young sow killed in the Indre region during a hunting party, we are lodging a complaint.

For Guinea, a young sow killed in the Indre region during a hunting party, we are lodging a complaint.
18.10.2024
Indre
For Guinea, a young sow killed in the Indre region during a hunting party, we are lodging a complaint.
Hunting

On Monday October 14, a two-year-old sow disappeared in a small village in the Indre region, during an ongoing hunting party. After an intense search, the sow’s family had to fight to finally find out that Guinea had died. Her body, stabbed with a knife, has since vanished into thin air… And everything is being done to keep the matter quiet. We denounce this unbearable omerta in favor of hunters who believe they can do whatever they like, and are lodging a complaint on Guinea’s behalf.

On her return from a walk, Guinea should have spent the evening peacefully by the side of the woman who has lovingly raised her since she was little. But last Monday, the young sow followed in the footsteps of a family friend who went for a run. The jogger, who didn’t realize she was being followed, came across a group of hunters gathered in a field. Later, as she retraced her steps, she noticed the mayor’s presence, without suspecting anything…

Code of silence and impunity in hunting areas

By the end of the day, Guinea was missing. Her family was extremely worried, especially as they were often subjected to insults and threats from hunters against their animals. Had they carried out their plan? While there was still hope, her family moved heaven and earth to find Guinea. Only the next day did they discover that the councilor had called the police to report the death of the sow, stabbed to death on her property the day before.

Why hadn’t Guinea’s family, devastated by the news, been notified directly, in this village of around a hundred inhabitants where everyone knew that the little sow lived with them? What happened to her remains? Where death struck her, only tire marks remained on the ground. Was her body taken away to cover up the facts? When her family asked the mayor for explanations, they were given no information, except for a photo of Guinea’s body… which they were forbidden to distribute. And when they filed a complaint at the police station, they were encouraged to give up. Above all, let the hunters slaughter in peace even our pets and keep quiet, always. And do nothing to see justice done.

Tens of millions of animals slaughtered every year

Every year, hunters decimate 45 million wild animals. And these animals are not the only ones to pay a heavy price: whether it’s dogs or cats caught in traps, like Tigrou who died just last September, Cooper, Snooky and Red Collar, or horses who have fallen victim to bullets, like Memphis, Olympe and Connemara, no one is safe. And we’re to believe that trigger-happy enthusiasts have nothing to do with it, and certainly don’t question their deadly “hobby”, so often supported by the prefectures? Move along, there’s nothing to see?

We refuse to turn a blind eye, and we won’t be quiet! On Guinea’s behalf, we are filing a complaint alongside her family and demanding answers. And on behalf of all the other victims of hunting, and because 89% of French people believe that this activity poses safety problems (Ipsos/One Voice poll, 2023), sign our petition for a radical reform of hunting!

Traditional hunting: prefects always quick to flatter hunters at the expense of birds.

Traditional hunting: prefects always quick to flatter hunters at the expense of birds.

Traditional hunting: prefects always quick to flatter hunters at the expense of birds.
21.10.2024
Traditional hunting: prefects always quick to flatter hunters at the expense of birds.
Hunting

While One Voice and the LPO had obtained a ban on traditional hunting with “matoles” (cages) and “pantes” (nets), the State is finding new strategies to allow hunters to continue their despicable hobby: prefectoral decrees that authorize the capture of Eurasian skylarks “for scientific purposes” for more than a month. One Voice is taking the matter to court to request their urgent suspension and annulment.

On May 6, 2024, we achieved a decisive victory for the protection of Eurasian skylarks: the Council of State annulled the decrees of October 4, 2022 authorizing the capture of these birds with archaic and cruel devices, such as matoles and pantes, in several departments of south-west France. This decision marked the definitive end of traditional hunting, after the courts had repeatedly ruled in our favor. But the State spares no effort to satisfy the hunters. Under the guise of “scientific experimentation” – as if hunting had anything to do with science, the moon or green cheese – the prefects of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques and Landes regions have taken the decision to reauthorize these means of trapping larks in our countryside.

Hunting federations, these scientific organizations…..

No one is fooled: these “experiments” are nothing more than a maneuver to discreetly reintroduce practices that had been formally banned by the courts. And which, by a strange coincidence, will be carried out… by the hunters themselves. Who said “scientific neutrality”? The aim is obvious: to make people believe that these procedures are justified, so as to revive their use under the guise of pseudo-scientific legitimacy.

All this is orchestrated by the departmental hunting federations, whose objectivity is, of course, totally questionable. In the Pyrénées-Atlantiques region, these decrees authorize the capture of almost 2,000 Eurasian skylarks. In the Landes region, 16,000 birds will suffer the same fate, caught in nets and cages. Outrageous cynicism!

We already know the results that this “research” will produce: it will attempt to demonstrate that pantes and matoles are selective tools, when we know full well that these traps do not differentiate between the species captured. This means that not only Eurasian skylarks will be endangered, but also other birds, protected or not, collateral victims of these devices. Many of them risk being injured or even killed in accidental captures, an unacceptable risk for biodiversity. And all will suffer fear, panic and intense stress.

These prefectoral decrees are not only dangerous for wildlife, they are also illegal. Indeed, they were issued without any public consultation, thus depriving citizens and animal protection associations of the opportunity to react and make their voices heard.

We are determined not to let “traditional” hunting make a comeback. That’s why we’re taking our case to the administrative court, calling for the immediate suspension and annulment of these decrees.

The fight against these traps is far from over. We will continue to defend animals and to make the voice of the 83% of French people who want to see an end to these practices, which should be a thing of the past (Ipsos/One Voice 2022 poll), heard. We need your support: sign our petition for a radical reform of hunting and to prevent the return of these very cruel methods!

Two One Voice victories for shimmering mountain birds, three hearings to come

Two One Voice victories for shimmering mountain birds, three hearings to come

Two One Voice victories for shimmering mountain birds, three hearings to come
07.10.2024
Two One Voice victories for shimmering mountain birds, three hearings to come
Hunting

Since this autumn, grey partridges, rock partridges, black grouse, hazel grouse and rock ptarmigans have been slaughtered. While the threat of their disappearance looms over these emblematic birds of the French mountains, we have learned of two victories for their preservation in the Haute-Savoie and the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence regions! Next hearings at the Council of State are this Friday, October 18 at 10:30 a.m., and on October 22 at 9:30 a.m. at the Nice court for the PACA region, and at 2:30 p.m. at the Montpellier court for the Pyrenees region.

In Provence, the judge in Marseilles recognized that this practice was detrimental to the conservation of 36 rock and “rochassière” partridges and 24 black grouse. Indeed, it cannot justify the extinction of animals who are on the IUCN red list. Similarly, in the Haute-Savoie region, the 177 black grouse and 6 rock partridges targeted will be able to live out this season in peace, since we have forced the federation to lay down its weapons. Rock ptarmigans, however, will not enjoy the same happy fate, as they can be killed for the sole pleasure of the false friends of biodiversity.

Hopes differ in the Occitanie region… While the detonations continue to be heard against our precious gallinaceans, the judges in Toulouse and Pau have rejected our appeal… Beyond the suffering and death inflicted on these birds, this means further reducing their numbers, which have already been declining for several years, due to climate change, intensive pastoralism and the regression of open environments in our massifs. In addition, in support of our partner the Comité écologique ariégeois, which won a victory for the rock ptarmigans that was contested by the hunters, we will be going to the Council of State this Friday at 10:30am!

The fight goes on this October 18 at the Council of State, then on October 22 at the Nice court at 9:30 am with FNE PACA and LPO PACA against the Alpes-Maritimes prefecture’s decree, and at the Montpellier court at 2:30 pm against the Pyrenees prefecture’s decision.

Sign for a reform of hunting and to protect these birds before they disappear Sign for a reform of hunting and to protect these birds before they disappear Sign for a reform of hunting and to protect these birds before they disappear Sign for a reform of hunting and to protect these birds before they disappear Sign for a reform of hunting and to protect these birds before they disappear Sign for a reform of hunting and to protect these birds before they disappear Sign for a reform of hunting and to protect these birds before they disappear Sign for a reform of hunting and to protect these birds before they disappear Sign for a reform of hunting and to protect these birds before they disappear Sign for a reform of hunting and to protect these birds before they disappear

Twice injured by a leghold trap, the cat Tigrou has died. One Voice lodged a complaint.

Twice injured by a leghold trap, the cat Tigrou has died. One Voice lodged a complaint.

Twice injured by a leghold trap, the cat Tigrou has died. One Voice lodged a complaint.
17.10.2024
Hérault
Twice injured by a leghold trap, the cat Tigrou has died. One Voice lodged a complaint.

In September 2024, in a village in the Hérault region, leghold traps claimed a new “collateral” victim: Tigrou. The little ginger cat, who had already had to have his right front leg amputated because of one of these illegal, non-selective hunting devices, did not survive this second injury. We have lodged a complaint on his behalf, alongside his family, and strongly condemn the trappers who, every year, deliberately target thousands of animals wrongly classified as pests.

Tigrou’s short life was marked by moments of joy with his family… and dramatic encounters with leghold traps. As early as February 2022, when he was still very young, ruthless jaws closed violently on his right front leg during a walk. Given the severity of his wounds and the paralysis of his limb, amputation was inevitable. For over two years, despite his handicap, the little redhead showed incredible resilience. But in 2024, another accident shattered all his efforts to start over. After being missing for three long days, Tigrou reappeared outside his home on September 3. Dirty, exhausted and… once again seriously injured by metal jaws! Immediately taken to the vet, every effort was made to save him… Without success: his family had to let him go to put an end to his torment.

The list of victims continues to grow

Before him, other cats had disappeared in the village, some after having had a leg amputated… Are we to understand that someone is deliberately capturing and mutilating the little felines out for a stroll? Have the desperately looked for animals been killed? We are writing to the town hall to ensure that such a tragedy does not happen again.

All over France, many cats and dogs, including Cooper, Snooky and Red Collar, have suffered similar distress because of leghold traps. These deadly devices have been banned in their old, unapproved versions throughout the European Union since 1995! How many more will find themselves trapped in these torture devices, agonizing for hours on end, losing the use of a limb, or dying as a result, before the regulations are finally respected?

The traps must go! 

Other traps, no less cruel, are still authorized. Every year, they cause the death of thousands of foxes, martens, weasels and stone martens in atrocious suffering… So many animals hunted down without mercy because they are classified as ESOD when all they want is to live in peace. And they’re not the only ones to pay the price. Apart from our companions, even individuals belonging to protected species get caught. In March 2023, a she-wolf was found strangled by a snare, more than four years after Cooky‘s death in a fox trap.

For Tigrou, we filed a complaint alongside his family. And we continue to call for a ban on traps that mutilate and kill indiscriminately.

For lions Jon, Celeste, Patty, Hannah and Marli, new face-to-face trial with their torturer

For lions Jon, Celeste, Patty, Hannah and Marli, new face-to-face trial with their torturer

For lions Jon, Celeste, Patty, Hannah and Marli, new face-to-face trial with their torturer 14.10.2024
For lions Jon, Celeste, Patty, Hannah and Marli, new face-to-face trial with their torturer
Circuses

Following his conviction earlier this year for what he did to Jon, Céleste, Patty, Hannah and Marli, trainer Steve Gougeon has appealed the judges’ decision. Never mind, we’ll be there again to defend the five lions, this October 17 at 1:30 p.m. at the Rouen Court of Appeal.

Among circus performers, the best defense is denial. Steve Gougeon has demonstrated this once again. Although in early 2024 he was found guilty of the mistreatment and suffering inflicted on the lion Jon and his companions Céleste, Patty, Hannah and Marli over many years, he appealed his conviction. The sentence was commensurate with his actions: a two-month suspended prison sentence, five fines, permanent confiscation of the lionesses, a five-year ban on working with animals and reimbursement of One Voice’s rescue costs. But rather than keeping a low profile, the Paris Circus’ trainer preferred to persist in his denial. 

At Paris Circus, to save money, we wait until the animals starve to death

Despite his conviction earlier this year, Steve Gougeon has not stopped his misdeeds. Last February, we rescued eight more of the animals under his control. Abandoned in a muddy field in the middle of winter, they would have withered to death if local residents and the town hall hadn’t taken matters into their own hands and alerted us.

This is how the long agony of Jon and his companions had begun: having abandoned them to their fate in a trailer, the trainer was simply waiting for the felines to starve to death before getting rid of them. For two years, we followed them from town to town as the circus moved, watching them slowly go downhill. Their rescue was finally ordered when they were at death’s door, in two stages.

This October 17 at 1:30 pm, One Voice will be present at the Rouen Court of Appeal to call to mind all the suffering endured by these animals: cachectic, teeth ground down, fangs broken, claws pulled out, wounds left untreated… and to demand a punishment as exemplary as the previous one.

Jon, whose body was deeply bruised by years of mistreatment, died on January 29, 2022. Today, Céleste, Patty, Hannah and Marli live a true lioness life in our sanctuary in Italy. Join us in calling for a ban on animals in circuses.

Demand an end to the exploitation of animals in circuses. Demand an end to the exploitation of animals in circuses. Demand an end to the exploitation of animals in circuses. Demand an end to the exploitation of animals in circuses. Demand an end to the exploitation of animals in circuses. Demand an end to the exploitation of animals in circuses. Demand an end to the exploitation of animals in circuses. Demand an end to the exploitation of animals in circuses. Demand an end to the exploitation of animals in circuses. Demand an end to the exploitation of animals in circuses.

One Voice lodges a complaint against another establishment displaying a snake in defiance of the law

One Voice lodges a complaint against another establishment displaying a snake in defiance of the law

One Voice lodges a complaint against another establishment displaying a snake in defiance of the law
14.10.2024
Puy-de-Dôme
One Voice lodges a complaint against another establishment displaying a snake in defiance of the law
Wildlife

Since December 1, 2021, the law supposedly designed to protect animals from mistreatment prohibits their presence in nightclubs. A common-sense measure that has nonetheless been flouted for nearly three years, as we have denounced on numerous occasions. On Friday September 13, it was the turn of the “V and B”, in the Puy-de-Dôme region, to expose a snake to the noise and the crowd. We have once again lodged a complaint and are calling for regulations to be enforced.

On September 13, Aubière’s “V and B” celebrated its fourth anniversary with great pomp. And what better way to celebrate than with a “jungle party”? Cellar section overflowing with bottles of beer and wine, counter where one shot follows another, ambient hubbub in a packed room… and in this overexcited atmosphere: a snake. Announced as just another attraction by a member of staff, they are sometimes wrapped around the body of a dancer, sometimes carried to the height of the delirious night owls who surround them in numbers, glass and telephone in hand. For them, the fun, for the snake, the stress, and for all, the risk of an accident that could have happened at any moment, adding tragedy to cruelty.

All over France, other victims of festive events…..

These events are far from isolated. In October 2023 in the Pyrénées-Orientales region and in June 2024 in the Loire-Atlantique region, we had already condemned the ordeal endured by reptiles and a cockatoo at equally noisy and alcoholic parties…

At the same time, the Nausicaá aquarium could think of nothing better to inform its public about the animals it holds… than to traumatize them. Already prisoners of glass walls, they were also subjected to the resounding notes of two concerts given in front of their giant bowl. Alongside the PAZ association, we contacted the Direction départementale de la protection des populations (DDPP).

And when Alice Cooper took to the stage with a boa around his neck on October 2, we immediately contacted the Zénith de Paris. The venue, which had not been informed of this dubious display, undertook to continue banning the exploitation of animals at its concerts.

…..although it’s been illegal since December 2021

And yet, for nearly three years now, the law of November 30, 2021 has forbidden the display of these individuals in any enclosed area open to the public with music playing. How can we still believe in this text if even the few measures that have come into force are not respected? Because animals are not accessories, and they don’t belong in nightclubs, we demand that they be kept out of these places for good, and protected as they should be.

For the snake used at the Aubière “V and B” party, we have lodged a complaint against the establishment, its managers and the owner of the reptile. We demand that these events cease once and for all, for the well-being of the animals and in accordance with regulations.

From the Alps to the Pyrenees, One Voice defends mountain galliformes in court

From the Alps to the Pyrenees, One Voice defends mountain galliformes in court

From the Alps to the Pyrenees, One Voice defends mountain galliformes in court
07.10.2024
From the Alps to the Pyrenees, One Voice defends mountain galliformes in court

This autumn, we once again filed pleas against texts planning to kill grey mountain partridges, rock ptarmigan, black grouses and rock partridges in the Alps and Pyrenees. Already victims of habitat loss and the dramatic collapse of their populations, they must now flee from bullets. To stop their massacre, we will be at the administrative courts of Toulouse, Pau, Marseille and Montpellier from October 7 to 22.

In recent years, we have worked tirelessly to defend mountain galliformes, fighting back whenever they were in danger. Taking refuge in the heights, these birds, who aspire only to live in peace, suffer the full force of the consequences of human activities on their environment. With rising temperatures linked to global warming, urbanization of natural areas, tourism and intensive pastoralism, which deprives the chicks of the grass they need to feed, their habitat is shrinking by the day. To the point where they are classified as “near-threatened” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

State complicity in a deadly hobby

Yet a handful of individuals persist in their desire to kill them. Why should they give up when they enjoy the support of public authorities who will stop at nothing to satisfy them? In 2023, the Pyrénées-Orientales administration had requested the elimination of 10 grey mountain partridges per hunter per year, without even waiting for the results of the summer counts. And they dare to talk about regulation! Not fooled, we took the matter to court, which ruled in our favor, thus saving the targeted animals!

Yet again this year, the Ariège prefecture has ordered the slaughter of no less than 670 grey partridges and 10 rock ptarmigan… based solely on studies carried out by the hunting federation. In total, 2,249 birds are targeted by the three prefectures we are attacking on the Spanish border, and a further 242 are endangered in the Hautes-Alpes region. Following on from our latest actions in the Alps, we have filed pleas in each of these territories.

On October 7 at 2.30pm, we’ll be at the Toulouse administrative court to examine the Ariège region decree. Then, on October 10 at 2pm, the judges at the administrative court in Pau will rule on the Hautes-Pyrénées region case. On October 15 at 2pm, we will defend the black grouses and rock partridges targeted in the Hautes-Alpes region at the Marseille administrative court. Finally, the Montpellier court will examine our plea against the Pyrénées-Orientales prefecture on October 22 at 2.30pm.