News Archive - One voice

Mauritius: 446 macaques illegally captured for laboratories and a silent massacre

Mauritius: 446 macaques illegally captured for laboratories and a silent massacre
04.05.2026
Maurice – France
Mauritius: 446 macaques illegally captured for laboratories and a silent massacre
Expérimentation animale

In 2023, 446 macaques were snatched from the forests of Mauritius. Hammerhead International Ltd, the company responsible for the captures, acted without prior notice or authorisation. Seized by the Mauritian government, the animals appear to have been subjected to appalling conditions of captivity. Three years later, only 192 have survived, some of whom were mere infants at the time.

Faced with this ethical and sanitary disaster, One Voice is taking action alongside its long-standing partners Action for Primates, Progress Science Mauritius and Monkey Massacre in Mauritius. Together, we have written to the authorities, demanding answers and the immediate implementation of strict, verifiable safeguards to protect the survivors.

©Monkey Massacre in Mauritius

To further its plan to breed primates for foreign laboratories, the company Hammerhead International Ltd orchestrated the capture of 446 macaques in Mauritius in 2023. Among them, some were very young and still dependent on their mothers. So what! The animal experimentation industry acts with complete impunity, as their breeding operation had not even been officially authorised yet. Alerted to the situation, the authorities intervened to seize the animals and, pending the outcome of the investigation, transferred them to a breeding facility known for its exploitation of living creatures: Biosphère Trading Ltd. This facility is one of seven “primate factory farms” that ship more than 10,000 of these animals to laboratories in the United States, Canada and Europe, notably to France.

Our on-site investigations in 2023 have already documented overcrowded cages, repeated outbreaks of disease and mass culls.

192 survivors out of 446: so many lives wasted for nothing

Since their seizure and relocation, the statements from the authorities have sought to be reassuring. The truth only came to light in March 2026. In an official letter mentioning a visit by the institutional veterinary services in January 2026, the news broke: only 192 macaques had survived.

178 were killed after testing positive for tuberculosis, a consequence of trafficking and the conditions of their captivity.
A further 73 died as a result of neglect: untreated injuries, trauma, diarrhoea.

In total, more than half of the captured animals perished. This catastrophic toll confirms the major health failures already identified in these “factory farms”, but also the direct responsibility of the authorities who approved their transfer to this facility, which had been denounced for such mistreatment since 2021.

Hammerhead’site ©Monkey Massacre in Mauritius

Primates breeding centre of Biosphère ©Monkey Massacre in Mauritius

Mauritius, a key hub in the global trade in macaques for experimentation

Classified as endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2022, long-tailed macaques nevertheless remain the most traded primates in the world for laboratory use. In this abhorrent trade, Mauritius occupies a strategic position: over 10,000 primates are reportedly exported every year, 100,000 over the last twenty years, notably to France, the United Kingdom and the United States. In France in 2024, 1,413 primates used in our laboratories came from this trade, representing 81% of the total number of primates for that year.

Primatology Centre in Rousset: a trade set to continue

The planned expansion of the Primatology Centre in Rousset will only serve to reinforce these dealings.

The CNRS thus plans to purchase, over a three-year period, 314 female and 32 male long-tailed macaques imported as “breeding stock”. This public procurement contract, approved in 2025, explicitly mentions animals of Mauritian origin. Their transport would be handled by Silabe, a hub for the primate trade for laboratories in France and Europe. And despite this so-called “resilience”, imports will also remain very high in parallel. This project will “supply” only 35 to 40% of the primates used in French laboratories each year – which is still nearly 1,200 individuals! For this, over 30 million euros of public money will be spent on these tortured lives.

Primatology Centre in Rousset: a trade set to continue

The planned expansion of the Primatology Centre in Rousset will only serve to reinforce these dealings.

Animal experimentation: France complicit in transfers to a laboratory of shame

Animal experimentation: France complicit in transfers to a laboratory of shame
06.05.2026
France, Spain
Animal experimentation: France complicit in transfers to a laboratory of shame
Animal testing

Alerted by our Spanish partner Abolición Vivisección, we immediately contacted the French authorities, demanding all documents relating to these sales. The documented shipments began in 2021. Over five years, we have counted hundreds of puppies and young primates shipped without ceremony from France to Spain. Final destination: the Vivotecnia laboratory, known for acts of animal abuse that are massive, filmed and indisputable. These cruel acts were tried on 7 May 2026 in Madrid. Behind the suffering inflicted on millions of animals by laboratories every year, there is a thriving business.

© Cruelty Free International – Carlotta Saorsa

Babies without identity, reduced to numbers

We know almost nothing about them.

No name. No history. Reduced to mere numbers on tattoos or microchips, 355 puppies, 4 long-tailed macaques and 32 primates – whose species are not even specified – were sent from France to the Spanish laboratory Vivotecnia between 2021 and 2025.

The only certainty at this stage regarding their identity: they are babies – puppies aged between 4 and 6 months, and young monkeys ranging from a few months to two and a half years old. Torn prematurely from their mothers, they endured journeys lasting 11 to 21 hours – an interminable ordeal. The beginning of a living hell.

Atrocities revealed in 2021, only brought to trial on 7 May 2026

Once locked up in Vivotecnia’s cells, their fate is sealed: these young animals are subjected to toxicity tests for the food, chemical and cosmetics industries all day long. Yet, since 2021, this laboratory has been at the centre of a major scandal. That year, an investigation carried out by Cruelty Free International – a coalition of which One Voice is a member – brought to light systematic acts of cruelty: slaps, insults, restraints. Acts that could go as far as the killing of some of them in full view of their fellow sufferers. The images sent shockwaves through Spain and beyond, leading to the suspension of Vivotecnia’s operating licence by the Spanish authorities. The investigation revealed an entire system based on violence. Yet their licence was reinstated in exchange for a paltry fine of 37,000 euros. In total, 25 offences were identified by the Madrid regional government following the revelations. Given the seriousness of the events, the Spanish organisations FAADA and AnimaNaturalis have filed a complaint to ensure these appalling practices do not go unpunished. The trial brought by several organisations, including Cruelty Free International, against two employees, begins on 7 May 2026.

French breeding farms for laboratories at the heart of the scandal

How, under these circumstances—known since 2021—can France authorise such sales? Our investigations have shown that the animals come from the Yonne and Allier regions, the location of the Beagle and Golden Retriever breeding farms in Mézilles and Gannat, which are owned by the American giant Marshall BioResources (MBR), against whom we have been campaigning for many years.

As for the primates, a crucial piece of information has removed all ambiguity. The Prefecture of the Bas-Rhin region has confirmed to us that they do indeed come from the Silabe laboratory. This establishment, which we have been denouncing for many years as a European hub for the trade in macaques and a future supplier to the threefold-extended breeding facility in Rousset, thus stands out as a central link in this opaque industry.

Extract from transport documents

Animal suffering, economic interests and cross-border health risks

Beyond the ethical concerns, this trade in living beings also raises serious public health issues. Primates used in laboratories pose risks of disease transmission, regularly highlighted in health alerts. Vivotecnia has, in fact, been directly named in the Spanish press in this regard.

One Voice demands answers

These exports are not isolated incidents: they are part of the vast profits generated by animal experimentation, as in the case of the 1,600 beagles from the Mézilles breeding facility imported to Italy in 2025, for whom we are still fighting alongside LAV.

France remains at the forefront of this ethical disaster, with over 2 million animals used in 2023, a figure that has remained unchanged for 10 years, evidence of persistent inaction.

Meanwhile, previously unseen footage, filmed over a decade and up until 2025 by a whistleblower in British laboratories, serves as a stark reminder that extreme suffering, shattered lives and organised silence are still very much a reality.

The conclusion is clear: France is not content merely with widespread abuse; it blindly supplies lab animals to the entire European network of laboratories, even the worst ones. It is time to put an end to this. No research based on fear, pain and death is justifiable.

Court hearing in Marseille: wolves filmed illegally in the Calanques National Park

Court hearing in Marseille: wolves filmed illegally in the Calanques National Park
23.04.2026
Calanques National Park
Court hearing in Marseille: wolves filmed illegally in the Calanques National Park
Animaux sauvages

When passion becomes intrusion: filming wolves out of love for nature also means disturbing them, with dramatic consequences for the packs. A documentary crew will face charges of intentionally disturbing a protected species on 27 April at the Judicial Court in Marseille. Already facing de-classification and poaching, wolves must not also have to endure the pursuit of footage.

In September 2025, a team linked to a wildlife documentary project entered the heart of the Calanques National Park to film a pack of wolves accompanied by cubs. The site was protected. Any recording of images or sound relating to this species was explicitly prohibited there. The team knew this. And yet…

The videographer admitted to filming without authorisation, setting up camera traps – which are also prohibited – and actively seeking out the animals prior to filming. Communications even reveal a deliberate intention to film the wolves whilst avoiding attracting the attention of the authorities. The director admitted to having approved these shots. The production company, for its part, denies any direct involvement.

Shortly after the incident, the pack abandoned the site

Wolves are a species particularly vulnerable to disturbance, especially during the breeding season. Repeated human presence, recording equipment installed in the immediate vicinity, filming in the heart of a sensitive site… all these factors constitute disturbances that can lead to the abandonment of pups, forced relocation or even the permanent loss of a territory. Consequences that are invisible on screen but very real indeed!

This is precisely what the law aims to prevent. The rules governing the recording of sound and images in a national park are not administrative red tape. They are a condition for the species’ survival. Observing or filming wildlife is never harmless, even with the best of intentions. Indeed, the pack abandoned the site after the incident.

The race for the perfect images: a new threat?

This case raises a crucial issue. Recording technologies – camera traps, drones, miniaturised cameras – are now accessible to everyone. And social media reward the most spectacular footage.

This quest creates growing pressure on wildlife, exerted not only by hunters or poachers, but also by naturalists, photographers and passionate filmmakers. Yet, paradoxically, a love of wild animals can harm them when it is accompanied by an overpowering desire to get close to them, to capture them on film, to turn them into a product to be displayed. At that point, the passion turns into intrusion.

Wolves already under pressure

This hearing comes at a particularly difficult time for wolves in France, with the entry into force of new ministerial decrees simplifying their killing. No shooting permits are required anymore: a simple declaration is now sufficient. This is a setback that One Voice is fighting in the courts, on the streets and all the way to the Council of State. Calls for poaching have already led to emergency mobilisations to save entire families such as that of Milo and Mina.

Wolves do not need a new threat. They are already under unprecedented political and legal pressure. Allowing the frenzy for images to become an additional danger would be a collective failure. This hearing is an opportunity to remind everyone of that.

On 27 April 2026 at 8.30am, at the Judicial Court in Marseille, three defendants will face charges of deliberately disturbing a protected species. One Voice will be present. Because wolves are already suffering too many violations: shooting, poaching, and European declassification. Their peace is non-negotiable. To defend them on all fronts, sign our petition.

Stop the persecution of wolves!

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

Filming protected wolves puts them in danger. Let’s put an end to the race for footage!

Stop à la persécution des loups ! Stop à la persécution des loups ! Stop à la persécution des loups ! Stop à la persécution des loups ! Stop à la persécution des loups ! Stop à la persécution des loups ! Stop à la persécution des loups ! Stop à la persécution des loups ! Stop à la persécution des loups ! Stop à la persécution des loups !

Layish, born in a circus, soon to be free in Africa

Layish, born in a circus, soon to be free in Africa
22.04.2026
Afrique du Sud
Layish, born in a circus, soon to be free in Africa
Exploitation for shows

From three square metres of living space to the vastness of a living land. On 28 April, Layish’s fate will change. In partnership with Tonga Terre d’Accueil, we are organising his transfer to South Africa to a sanctuary where he will live in semi-freedom, surrounded by his own kind and closely monitored.

Far from whips and bars, Layish will be free from degrading performances for good. He will finally be able to become the free being, guided by instinct, that he should always have been.

He was born on 18 February 2021 and spent the early years of his life at the Claudio Zavatta Circus. Like so many others, his fate was predetermined: captivity, breeding, training. Layish spent his early years in a trailer. Three square metres of metal to grow up in, to pace back and forth, to waste away.

Deprived of everything, Layish sank into deep distress. Out of sheer boredom, he even self-harmed. When we met him, his skin was raw, his fur torn out by compulsive licking. These injuries are typical of serious ‘stereotyped’ behaviours, revealing his extreme distress.

A slow recovery

In July 2024, Layish was abandoned by his trainers at our partner shelter ‘Le Repère’. Faced with this emergency, we acted immediately, covering veterinary costs, funding his accommodation, and creating a secure enclosure. Then, to give him every chance of recovery, we transferred him to Tonga Terre d’Accueil. Little by little, he was able to rebuild himself, heal his trauma and regain confidence.

Circuses funded, sanctuaries abandoned

Layish is no exception. Like Jon, he is a reflection of the hundreds of wild animals and other creatures still locked away and forgotten in the big tops. Their presence in travelling circuses was supposed to end by 2028. Yet this commitment remains an empty promise. Thus, since 2023, their breeding has been banned. In reality, no penalties are in place for breaches, and births continue in complete illegality. And whilst circuses remain supported and funded by the State, the sanctuaries, for their part, are sorely lacking in resources to take in the victims.

At the dawn of a new life

On 28 April, Layish will leave Europe to return to the land of his ancestors. At SanWild Sanctuary in South Africa, he will no longer be an object of spectacle, he will no longer be locked in a metal cage, and he will no longer have to disappear behind an unnatural role. In this wild environment, dotted with vast grasslands and waterholes, he will be able to go exploring, bond with his fellow lions, feel the wind and the sun. Start his life anew. Be a lion, at last.

Layish, born in a circus, soon to be free in Africa

Born in a cage and later abandoned, the lion Layish is about to return to the land of his ancestors. He is set to travel to South Africa on 28 April.

Des cirques financés, des refuges abandonnés

Layish n’est pas une exception. Comme Jon, il est un miroir des centaines de fauves et d’animaux encore enfermés et oubliés dans les chapiteaux. Leur présence dans les cirques itinérants devait prendre fin d’ici 2028. Or, cet engagement reste lettre morte. Ainsi, depuis 2023, leur reproduction est interdite. Dans les faits, aucune sanction n’est prévue en cas d’infraction et les naissances continuent dans l’illégalité la plus totale. Et pendant que les cirques demeurent soutenus et financés par l’État, les refuges, eux, manquent cruellement de moyens pour accueillir les victimes.

À l’aube d’une nouvelle vie

Le 28 avril, Layish quittera l’Europe pour rejoindre la terre de ses ancêtres. À SanWild Sanctuary, en Afrique du Sud, il ne sera plus un objet de spectacle, il ne sera plus enfermé dans une cage de métal, il n’aura plus à disparaître derrière un rôle contre nature. Dans cet environnement sauvage, ponctué de vastes étendues herbeuses et de points d’eau, il pourra partir en exploration, nouer des liens avec ses congénères, sentir le vent et le soleil. Commencer sa vie. Être un lion, enfin.

Ten years of secret footage: laboratory animals laid bare

Ten years of secret footage: laboratory animals laid bare
20.04.2026
Monde
Ten years of secret footage: laboratory animals laid bare
Animal testing

These images have never been published before and are unbearably graphic. The footage we are revealing today, alongside our European coalition ECEAE (European Coalition to End Animal Experiments), was filmed over a ten-year period by a former laboratory employee turned whistleblower, and subsequently handed over to the organisations Animal Aid and Animals International (Australia). These clips lay bare, without filter, a system that organises suffering on a massive scale. And they ruthlessly document an industry that trivialises violence.

Dozens of mice crammed into plastic tubes, forced to breathe in substances. Monkeys held down by force, screaming in terror. Pigs, mutilated, with open wounds. Lifeless dogs, their eyes vacant, their snouts confined in masks. But also rabbits, rats… bodies reduced to mere tools… All captive in an environment where constraint is constant, and fear, stress and suffering are ever-present.

The images show animals seized without mercy, tied up, trapped in metal restraint devices. Immobilised, with no means of escape, they are forced to endure repeated procedures. Chemicals are injected into their stomachs, lungs, veins… sometimes directly onto wounds, to determine when their bodies give in. And the days go on like this, for weeks, months, years. Ending, in the majority of cases, in death.

@Animals International

I wouldn’t have taken such a risk if I hadn’t been convinced that the only reason this was continuing was because the public wasn’t aware of it.

Whistleblower

Former laboratory employee

Silence is no longer an option

What these images, filmed over a decade, reveal is not an aberration, but a model that persists, even though reliable, animal-free alternatives exist. In France, in 2024, these toxicity tests were carried out 394,828 times on animals. Not out of necessity, but out of inertia, out of a refusal to break with an outdated model.

Faced with these images, silence is no longer an option. Whilst technological advances are exploding across all sectors, must laboratories continue to rely on cruelty rather than animal-free innovation?

For them, we are calling for a national mobilisation this Saturday, 25 April. Join us.

Do you work in a lab? Become a whistleblower.

One Voice guarantees the anonymity and confidentiality of all communications. Together, let’s usher research into a new era: one of artificial intelligence and cutting-edge technologies. And let’s put an end to animal suffering.

Ten years of secret footage: laboratory animals laid bare

Unprecedented. A 10-year investigation into British laboratories lifts the veil on the organised violence of toxicity testing.

@Animals International

Je n’aurais pas pris un tel risque si je n’avais pas été convaincu que la seule raison pour laquelle cela continuait, c’était parce que le public n’était pas au courant Lanceur d’alerte Ancien employé de laboratoire

Le silence n’est plus une option

Ce que révèlent ces images tournées pendant dix ans n’est pas une dérive, mais un modèle qui persiste, alors même que les méthodes alternatives fiables et sans recours aux animaux existent. En France, en 2024, ces tests de toxicité ont été pratiqués 394 828 fois sur des animaux. Non par nécessité, mais par inertie, par refus de rompre avec un modèle dépassé.

Face à ces images, le silence n’est plus une option. Alors que les avancées technologiques explosent dans tous les secteurs, les laboratoires doivent-ils continuer à miser sur la cruauté plutôt que sur l’innovation sans animaux ?

Pour eux, nous appelons à une mobilisation nationale ce samedi 25 avril. Rejoignez-nous.

Vous travaillez dans un labo ? Devenez lanceur d’alerte.

One Voice garantit l’anonymat et la confidentialité des échanges. Ensemble, faisons entrer la recherche dans une nouvelle ère : celle de l’intelligence artificielle et des technologies de pointe. Et mettons fin à la souffrance animale.

Rousset Breeding Facility – International Day: Press release

Rousset Breeding Facility – International Day: Press release
20.04.2026
Rousset
Rousset Breeding Facility – International Day: Press release
Animal testing

One Voice is coordinating a nationwide campaign against animal experimentation, with actions taking place across France on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 April, focusing on the Rousset primatology centre.

One Voice is organising two days of coordinated action across the country to denounce animal experimentation, and more specifically the planned expansion of the Rousset breeding facility (Bouches-du-Rhône). Across France, rallies, events and awareness-raising activities will take place simultaneously to alert the public and decision-makers to the plight of animals used in laboratories.

A national mobilisation in a context of growing opposition to animal experimentation

Through these days of action, One Voice aims to highlight the immovable scale of animal experimentation in France and the continuation of major projects such as the CNRS facility in Rousset, which are out of step with changing societal expectations, technological advances and European policies. It also represents a lag behind pioneering countries with national plans to phase out these practices: the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the USA, etc.

Every year, more than 2 million animals are subjected to experiments in laboratories in France which remains by far the leading European country in terms of the total number of animals used. France alone uses nearly 3,000 primates a year, representing a very significant proportion of the 10,000 primates used in experiments across Europe.

At the same time, public opinion is clearly changing. Three out of four French people say they are opposed to animal experimentation (Ipsos/One Voice survey 2023).

The international and European context is also moving towards a reduction. Fortunately so, because, for example, long-tailed macaques, with 2,640 uses in French laboratories in 2024, are now classified as an endangered species. Faced with public pressure, many airlines now refuse to transport them to the laboratories. Nevertheless, their exploitation remains the source of numerous trafficking networks and unscrupulous practices, as our investigations in Mauritius in 2023 revealed.

Investing tens of millions of public funds in commercial projects that exploit animal suffering, such as the expansion of the National Primatology Centre in Rousset, rather than in the development of alternatives, is utter nonsense. This expansion means the detention and breeding of 1,800 primates in order to “produce” half of the macaques destined for French laboratories; there is no real “independence” or ethics involved. France is going against the tide of history by falling considerably behind in the development of ethical biomedical innovations that are more relevant to humans and less costly. It is also at odds with the European stance, with the European Commission whose roadmap for reducing animal testing in its regulations is due to be published within a month, and with Directive 2010/63/EU which has been requiring Member States to phase out animal testing since 2021.

In response to this project, 93% of citizens have expressed their opposition, as have scientists – including the CNRS’s own ethics committee – and MEPs have voiced their doubts and opposition. Yet the CNRS persists in seeing it through to the end.

Behind the figures lie lives: the daily reality of primates in the laboratory

Behind these statistics are sentient, highly evolved living beings who endure repeated experiences of stress, constraint and pain.

Eliot lives in a state of constant anxiety. Locked in his cage, his daily life is punctuated by fear: abrupt awakenings under neon lights, injections, forced immobilisation, electric shocks, forced ingestion of cocaine… In many cases, the animals do not survive or are killed at the end of the experiments; for the survivors, however, it is not over – they are ‘reused’ for further traumatic experiments, driven by financial profitability.

Trésor, a marmoset born at the current CNRS breeding facility in Rousset, died during the insertion of a brain implant. Pietra, used in a neurological experiment, died a few months after brain surgery. Hadj, a rhesus macaque, suffered a succession of injuries, infections and major surgical procedures…

These stories illustrate a reality that is often hidden: that of animals kept in captivity, subjected to invasive, cruel protocols and, in the majority of cases, killed at the end of the experiments.

Protests across France

In this context, One Voice is coordinating simultaneous protests in several cities:

Marseille — Saturday 25 April – rally — 10.30am–12pm — Quai du Vieux Port
Metz — Saturday 25 April – rally — 2pm–5pm — Rue Winston Churchill
Montpellier — Saturday 25 April – rally — 11am–1pm — Place de la Comédie
Troyes — Saturday 25 April – rally — 2.30pm–5pm — Place de l’Hôtel de Ville
Brive — Saturday 25 April – rally — Details to follow on our website
La Rochelle — rally — 2.30pm–5pm — Place des Petits Bancs
Abbeville — Saturday 25 April – rally — Details to follow on our website
Bar-le-Duc — Saturday 25 April – rally — 2pm–3pm – 16 Rue de la Rochelle
Bordeaux — Sunday 26 April – rally — 2pm–5pm — Place de la Comédie
Fréjus — Sunday 26 April – rally — 10.30am–12.30pm — Boulevard de la Libération / Sablettes de la Caille beach roundabout
Nice — Sunday 26 April – rally — 2.30pm–4.30pm – Place Masséna

Rousset Breeding Facility: Press release

Against animal experimentation, One Voice is mobilising across France with a focus on Rousset

Senate hearing: Press release

Senate hearing: Press release
16.04.2026
Paris
Senate hearing: Press release
Wildlife

During a Senate hearing, the Minister for Ecological Transition made a series of shocking announcements that are calling into question major advances in French and European law regarding animal protection. Circuses, hunting, the captivity of cetaceans: a series of announcements that mark a clear break with ecological commitments.

A meeting that has set the powder keg alight… At a hearing on Tuesday 7 April before the Senate’s Committee on Economic Affairs, Mathieu Lefèvre, Minister for Ecological Transition, made a series of declarations of intent that literally trample on French and European legislation, to serve the interests of lawless lobbies.

Wild animals are not about to be released from circuses. Wolves are set to be mercilessly decimated. The cruellest and most illegal hunts are being championed under the guise of the perpetual respect for traditions. As for the two orcas at Marineland, they are set to join the most abusive dolphinarium in Europe. A fine track record for this ministry, created in 2007 to ensure France’s ecological transition!

Our country will soon be singled out for its completely backward approach to issues that are subject to widespread public criticism, and not just in Paris as Mathieu Lefèvre suggests.

Worse still, the Ministry for Ecological Transition is acting in defiance of justice, our country’s laws and European regulations.

Circuses: a setback for the ban on touring with wild animals

The law of 2021 established that, from 1 December 2028, the use of wild animals in travelling circuses would be banned in France. To avoid offending a circus world that strikes fear, the Minister, flouting all procedures and regulations, now says he is ready to work on a new decree to relax enforcement and allow touring under certain conditions. Thus perpetuating the confinement in lorries and the miserable lives of wild animals, contrary to the practices of our neighbours. We will challenge this decree, which is as cynical as it is illegal, before the Council of State.

Traditional hunts: complacency towards cruel practices

Whilst the defence of traditional hunts is nothing new, Mathieu Lefèvre is prepared to appease a handful of hunters who are clinging to practices of extreme cruelty, specifically net hunting in South-Western France. This is the last traditional hunt still in operation, the others having been abolished thanks to our relentless campaigning before the Council of State and the European Court of Justice. Worse still, he is even prepared to undermine the Birds Directive that protects birds in Europe – such a fragile heritage for future generations.

Our appeal lodged on behalf of wood pigeons before the Council of State, and the European Commission’s intervention give us reason to hope once again that birds will be protected from a ministry which is, let us not forget, the Ministry of Ecology, not the Ministry of Leisure. Yes, the sadistic traditional bird hunts in our countryside are nothing more than that: the pastime of die-hards who are calling the shots in government departments. The same battle applies to hunting in enclosures and the fencing off of nature, which all political parties opposed following our revelations after a lengthy undercover investigation. The enforcement of the law against fencing off nature that followed will have to wait.

Wolves soon to be endangered once again

The minister claims that simplifying the culling regime is intended to protect livestock: he fails to mention that, unlike protective measures – whose effectiveness has long been established – killing wolves increases attacks. Science tells us so.

Contrary to what he would have us believe, parroting the hunters’ lies, the conservation status of wolves in France is not good: they are classified as ‘vulnerable’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and their population has not reached the viability threshold of 2,500 wolves. With a culling rate of 23%, there is no doubt about the desire to wipe out a species that is useful and important to the country.

Marineland: the State shirks its responsibilities

The final blow comes with the Marineland case. The State is shirking its responsibility for the future of the two orcas still held in Nice, arguing that it is impossible to intervene with their owner, Parques Reunidos. Yet their transfer is subject to authorisation and requires an inter-country permit. It should be recalled that in November 2024 the French government opposed the transfer of the orcas to Japan. And in April 2025, Spain refused the transfer of Wikie and Keijo to Loro Parque, deeming the conditions at this dolphinarium in Tenerife to be too poor. Proof that governments have a say in the future of wild animals who are protected by international regulations. So why not admit that the government couldn’t care less about these iconic animals after leading us to believe the opposite for months?

One Voice condemns this frontal attack on wild animals. Our association will continue, as we are already doing, to challenge every decree before the Council of State.

Senate hearing: Press release

“Ecological transition”: when the Ministry sets animal welfare back a century

Spain for the marine mammals: Press release

Spain for the marine mammals: Press release
15.04.2026
Espagne
Spain for the marine mammals: Press release
Exploitation for shows

What a fine display of political courage! The French government has chosen to turn a blind eye to the captivity of marine mammals and to flout, with impunity, the law of 2021 prohibiting their captivity and breeding in captivity in France. The Ministry for Ecological Transition is authorising the transfer of the cetaceans still held at Marineland – 12 dolphins and the two orcas, Wikie and Keijo – to Spain.

This is how the government is removing a thorn from its side without addressing the root of the problem… by sending Wikie and Keijo to another dolphinarium, and, what’s more, to the most abusive one in Europe: Loro Parque in Tenerife (Canary Islands). Yet Mathieu Lefèvre, Minister for Ecological Transition, had previously come out in favour of the future sanctuary in Nova Scotia (Canada) at the end of 2025, before backtracking in recent weeks, deeming it too uncertain.

“The Minister sees too many uncertainties in sanctuary solutions, whether for orcas or dolphins. He prefers the certainty of the mistreatment that is captivity in dolphinariums at Beauval and Tenerife, and the certainty of premature death of the animals for which he is responsible. A death that alone will deliver them from the hell in which Mathieu Lefèvre has decided to keep them.” Muriel Arnal, President of One Voice.

Yet this sanctuary is not a figment of the imagination. It is taking shape. €3 million have just been injected into the Whale Sanctuary Project, and work has begun on building the site’s future infrastructure and a jetty. As a reminder, our association has been working on this project for five years in collaboration with the world’s leading specialists.

Animal welfare is being eclipsed by financial and political interests, which also opens the door to sales to Asia.

The reality of Loro Parque

Loro Parque is, in itself, a catastrophic prospect. There are already four orcas there, still being used for breeding and performances: a female and her one-year-old calf, Teno, and two males. Four orcas died there between 2021 and 2024 at ages ranging from 3 to 29 years, while the life expectancy of an orca in the wild exceeds 50 years.

The park has facilities capable of accommodating a maximum of six adult orcas in two pools whose dimensions fall short of the recommendations of the European Association of Aquatic Mammals (EAAM). Wikie will be used for breeding, that much is certain. Her son Keijo could then be sent to Japan.

Spain too for the 12 dolphins

As for the twelve dolphins, the government has approved Beauval Zoo’s plan to open a new dolphinarium, which also contravenes the law of 2021. Eight dolphins are expected to be transferred there once the work is completed.

But in the meantime, it is also Spain that awaits these cetaceans from Marineland. Whilst Beauval was supposedly THE solution to avoid sending the dolphins to Spain, a “temporary” transfer is planned to the dolphinarium in Malaga, owned by Parques Reunidos, to enable it to stage a summer season of shows… A journey causing intense stress for these dolphins, terrible conditions of captivity and no real guarantee of return…

The four remaining dolphins – Malou and Sharky, who are over 40 years old, and Ollie and Dam, who suffers from neurological problems – will, for their part, be sent to the ageing dolphinarium in Valencia, never to return. The group will therefore be separated and placed in conditions worse than those at Marineland.

“There is no such thing as a magical sanctuary,” declared Mathieu Lefèvre. Well, there is. In Taranto, the San Paolo Dolphin Refuge will welcome its first dolphins this summer. Proof that, with the political will, creating this type of sanctuary in Europe is a realistic prospect. Yet we must still have the courage to make this ecological transition, which the eponymous ministry is methodically striving to scupper.

One Voice refuses to bow to these economic realities. Our association will fight by every means against the requests for permits required for the transfer. If the animals were to be sent to Tenerife or Valencia, the French people who have rallied alongside us to close dolphinariums in France will see that their wishes are not being respected. As for Beauval, we are ready to campaign to ensure there is no third dolphinarium in France – an absurdity in 2026! Sanctuaries represent the only acceptable solution, a credible solution provided there is the political courage…

Spain for the marine mammals: Press release

Spain, the solution to the ban on the captivity of marine mammals in France! The ultimate hypocrisy behind the government’s announcement

A wolf shot dead: Press release

A wolf shot dead: Press release
15.04.2026
Haute-Marne
A wolf shot dead: Press release
Wildlife

Paris, 15 April 2026

A wolf was shot dead during the night of 13–14 April 2026 in Bassigny (Haute-Marne), as confirmed by the prefecture. Behind the technocratic terminology of ‘culling’ lies yet another killing, part of a deliberate policy to eliminate wolves in France.

In this area live Aria and Charlie with their cubs. The wolf killed most likely belonged to this family. At this stage, it is impossible to know which one was killed, but one thing is certain: this affects the entire social structure of the pack.

Deprived of an experienced adult, the young may find themselves disoriented, without guidance or training, which can have significant consequences for their behaviour and survival.

No, this is not a “cull”

The word is misleading.

This is not a neutral act of “management”. It is a killing, with lasting effects. By disrupting packs, these culls can cause the very imbalances they claim to prevent… and generate more problems that will justify killing even more wolves. For is this not the aim of the authorities serving the lobbies? Such senseless decisions make one wonder.

A direct consequence of increasingly permissive policies

This shooting is part of a context of relaxation of rules: in Europe, with the end of the wolf’s strict protection status, and in France, with easier conditions for shooting and high culling quotas.

Wolves are social animals, with structured families, essential to natural balances. Yet in France, their situation is already critical: the species is classified as ‘vulnerable’ by the IUCN. Their numbers fall short of the viability threshold estimated at 2,500 wolves, and 23% of them can be killed each year under the ‘quotas’ now in place.

“No, this is not a ‘cull’: it is a family being torn apart, left vulnerable. Cubs may find themselves lost, with no adult to guide them, and then we mustn’t be surprised by further attacks. These wonderful animals, pillars of biodiversity, are being relentlessly persecuted. They are being slaughtered to make them disappear,” says Muriel Arnal, president of One Voice.

One Voice and its partners (ASPAS, ASPA Vosges, Education éthique animale and LPO) had challenged the decree that led to the deaths of either Aria or Charlie. And the organisation will also soon be appearing before the Council of State on the subject of wolves.

A wolf shot dead: Press release

Haute-Marne: a wolf shot dead, a family in danger

Rock ptarmigans and Capercaillies: Press release

Rock ptarmigans and Capercaillies: Press release
13.04.2026
France
Rock ptarmigans and Capercaillies: Press release
Wildlife

After years of legal battles led by One Voice in particular, rock ptarmigans and capercaillies are to be removed from the list of huntable species and designated as protected birds. The Ministry for Ecological Transition is due to announce this new decree in the early afternoon.

The government is set to take a major step forward in the protection of mountain galliformes, a group that includes several species of birds living at high altitudes, such as rock ptarmigans and capercaillies. This morning, One Voice learnt from a reliable source that a decree is due to be announced today, which will aim to remove these birds from the list of huntable species and classify them as protected birds.

These texts will be subject to a 21-day public consultation before they can officially come into force.

Iconic birds in critical danger

Capercaillies and rock ptarmigans, emblems of mountain ecosystems, are now in sharp decline.

Capercaillies, who depend on old-growth, undisturbed forests, are seeing their habitat disappear due to logging, human disturbance and climate change. Already extinct in some regions, they now survive only in a few isolated mountain ranges.

Rock ptarmigans, adapted to the extreme conditions of high altitudes, are particularly vulnerable to global warming which directly threatens their habitat. This pressure is exacerbated by the increasing number of visitors to mountain areas and the development of infrastructure. Until recently, hunting placed additional pressure on this fragile species.

Without enhanced protection, these species risk disappearing from our mountains.

A long-running legal campaign led by One Voice

For several years, One Voice, alongside other organisations, has been waging a constant legal battle to put an end to the hunting of these threatened species and other mountain galliformes. This hunting continued to be authorised by the prefectures, limited to a few dozen birds due to the threats affecting galliformes. An absurd situation that has been allowed to persist for far too long in order to satisfy the hunting lobby, allowed to decimate them for their “leisure”.

In a ruling of 1 June 2022, the Council of State ordered the government to suspend the hunting of capercaillies for five years, leading to the adoption of a decree to that effect until 2027.

On 2 March 2026, following a petition by One Voice among others, the Council of State also ordered the suspension of hunting of rock ptarmigans, confirming the need to protect these birds given their conservation status.

These decisions were secured despite the initial refusal by the Ministry for Ecological Transition to implement a moratorium, necessitating repeated legal action to ensure their protection.

For One Voice, the protection of these birds represents a crucial step forward.

“This is a significant victory for the rock ptarmigan and the capercaillie, achieved after years of campaigning. But it will only be complete once these decrees are definitively adopted. We remain fully committed to their cause, as well as to that of four other species of mountain galliformes for which we will continue to take legal action for as long as necessary.” Muriel Arnal, President of One Voice.

Rock ptarmigans and capercaillies: Press release

One Voice welcomes a decisive step forward for their protection in France