Night-time shooting of wild boars in Moselle: an order without limits

Night-time shooting of wild boars in Moselle: an order without limits
13.01.2026
Moselle
Night-time shooting of wild boars in Moselle: an order without limits
Wildlife

In the Moselle region, the prefect has authorised hunters to kill wild boar at night, using lights and military equipment, for a period of four months. To protect these animals who are being persecuted day and night without respite, One Voice is calling for the urgent suspension of this order. Hearing on 14 January at 11am at the Administrative Court in Strasbourg.

In the Moselle region, the prefect authorises the “destruction” (sic) of wild boar at night, from a hide, using light sources and thermal imaging equipment, from 13 December 2025 to 14 April 2026. To protect these persecuted animals, One Voice is calling for the urgent suspension of this order. The hearing will take place on 14 January at 11am at the Administrative Court in Strasbourg.

A generalised authorisation

The decree allows an unlimited number of night-time shootings throughout the region, covering 725 municipalities, for 122 days, with no limit on the number of animals killed. Hunters are free to kill them at night and to be accompanied by an unlimited number of shooters. As it stands, this text paves the way for the potential slaughter of hundreds, even thousands, of wild boar. A massacre.

Hunting from a hide involves waiting motionless for an animal to pass by and then shooting it by surprise. At night, with the use of lighting or thermal devices, this means that the wild boar have no chance of escape, and carnage is inevitable.

Wild boar hunted all year round

Wild boar are already the most hunted animals in Moselle. The hunting calendar gives them only two weeks of respite per year. Fifteen short days of peace without bullets whizzing by, out of the whole year. Allowing night shooting for several months on top of that is tantamount to creating permanent hunting pressure. This means round-the-clock terror for all wildlife trying to survive in the region. This trivialisation of violence is part of a worrying climate of contempt, where wild boar can be treated like common rubbish.

This pressure is exerted using military-grade hunting weapons with a range of several kilometres, which poses serious risks to public safety for both residents and walkers.

A so-called “regulation”

Presented as a regulatory measure, this decision is based on a misinterpretation. Despite record culls —881,372 wild boar killed in 2024-2025— populations continue to grow, and agricultural damage persists. Across the country, wild boar are now being relentlessly hunted, as in the Indre region, where the prefecture has invented the absurd concept of ‘affinity hunting’ to justify ever more killings, or in Gard and Corsica, where illegal hunts have been authorised. Hunting perpetuates a vicious circle of which it is both the cause and the main beneficiary. And the prefecture is once again allowing hunters to indulge in their hobby with almost total freedom.

Justice in the face of guns

One Voice has taken legal action and is seeking the urgent suspension of this prefectural order. The hearing will be held on 14 January at 11am at the Administrative Court in Strasbourg. Wildlife cannot be sacrificed for the sake of a leisure activity without limits, in defiance of the law, public safety and respect for living beings. In the meantime, sign and share our petition for a radical reform of hunting.

Seven associations launch a petition to remove foxes from the list of “Species Likely to Cause Damage”

Seven associations launch a petition to remove foxes from the list of “Species Likely to Cause Damage”
12.01.2026
Seven associations launch a petition to remove foxes from the list of “Species Likely to Cause Damage”
Animaux sauvages

A petition to the National Assembly aims to remove red foxes from the ESOD list to stop them being culled by the thousands. Our associations are calling for citizen mobilisation and are organising actions in 11 cities on 17 January to raise public awareness about the issues at stake.

An official petition has been submitted to the National Assembly to request the end of the classification of red foxes as a “species likely to cause damage” (ESOD). The associations behind this initiative are calling for urgent citizen mobilisation to put an end to the mass culling of these animals. To educate the general public on the subject and highlight the issues at stake in this petition, One Voice is organising a day of grassroot actions in 11 cities on Saturday 17 January.

ESOD classification leads to mass culling

Every year in France, at least 500,000 foxes are killed by shooting, trapping or digging out, practices made possible by their inclusion on the ESOD list, in 88 departments to date. This chilling figure highlights an alarming reality: foxes are subjected to these cruel practices on a large scale, for instance digging out, a method long documented by our associations as being particularly barbaric.

The fox, an essential ally for the environment and public health

However, this persecution has no scientific basis. Foxes are major allies in our territories: they control rodents that damage crops and carry diseases such as Lyme disease, thereby reducing agricultural losses, dependence on toxic rodenticides and the spread of a zoonosis that affects tens of thousands of people every year in France.

As omnivorous animals that spread plant species, and scavengers that eliminate carcasses, they are also an essential link in our ecosystems.

Fox “regulation” has proven to be ineffective

In 2023, ANSES confirmed that foxes do not pose a risk to public health. They have not been carriers of rabies since the disease was eradicated in 2001, and culling them increases the spread of echinococcosis.

The alleged damage is equally unfounded, with studies –including the CARELI programme– showing that killing foxes does nothing to reduce predation and that only appropriate protection of chicken coops is truly effective.

Finally, a natural regulation of the species is perfectly ensured through the availability of resources as illustrated by the results in Luxembourg where the cessation of fox hunting has caused neither overpopulation nor ecological imbalance. These conclusions have been confirmed by several recent scientific reports and studies which highlight the ineffectiveness of fox “regulation” measures (FRB, 2023) and expressly recommend removing these animals from the ESOD list (IGEDD, 13 February 2025).

The Council of State has already partially cancelled their classification in the regions of Aveyron, Haute-Loire and Lozère due to a lack of justification for systematic culling. On this occasion, the public rapporteur considered that “reason dictates that the ESOD system should be completely overhauled”.

Majority opposition from public opinion

Public opinion is also clear: 65% of French people are against this classification, and 71% oppose these massacres (IFOP poll, 2023).

With the massive collapse of biodiversity, 2026 is set to be a pivotal year for increased species conservation. It must not be a year in which the three-year decree keeping foxes on the ESOD list is renewed in complete contradiction with legal and scientific data and societal expectations.

Animal Cross, Aves France, ASPAS, Focale pour le Sauvage, FERUS, Pôle Grands Prédateurs and One Voice are jointly calling on the Ministry of Ecological Transition to end the classification of foxes as “ESOD”.

For them, every voice counts. To change the law authorising this deadly list, we are calling on the general public to sign and share our joint petition to the National Assembly.

One Voice is organising a day of action in 11 cities on 17 January

To raise public awareness about the issue and highlight the importance of this petition, One Voice is organising a day of action on 17 January in 11 cities: Fréjus (83), Nice (06), Metz (57), Brive-la-Gaillarde (19), Montpellier (34), Bar-le-Duc (55), Nantes (44), Troyes (10) and Limoges (87). Two other actions are planned, on 18 January in Toulouse (31) and on 24 January in La Rochelle (17) (details to follow).

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How the government plans to shower public money on circuses that are becoming sedentary while allowing them to continue mistreating wild animals

How the government plans to shower public money on circuses that are becoming sedentary while allowing them to continue mistreating wild animals
06.01.2026
France
How the government plans to shower public money on circuses that are becoming sedentary while allowing them to continue mistreating wild animals
Animaux sauvages

On 2 December 2025, the government announced the upcoming launch of a call for expressions of interest (AMI) to support travelling circuses in their conversion to stationary establishments. In these second-rate, completely illegal zoos, the confinement and training of wild animals will continue, as the State has definitively given up on offering them retirement in sanctuaries. One Voice denounces yet another betrayal of the spirit of the law against animal abuse passed in 2021 and will not hesitate to take legal action if this project goes ahead.

As early as January 2021, we sounded the alarm about the dramatic consequences of a law targeting only travelling circuses. By allowing these establishments to become sedentary, the ambition to end the exploitation of wild animals in circuses has been abandoned in favour of a simple ban on travelling… A superficial measure which, while sparing captive individuals long journeys, does not protect them from the violence of training or the cruelty of confinement… Parc Saint-Léger, against which we filed another complaint in 2023, already gives a chilling glimpse of what awaits these sedentary animals: tiny enclosures, empty feeding bowls, spectators invited to enter the enclosures at the risk of injuring those imprisoned there…

As early as January 2021, we sounded the alarm about the dramatic consequences of a law targeting only travelling circuses. By allowing these establishments to become sedentary, the ambition to end the exploitation of wild animals in circuses has been abandoned in favour of a simple ban on travelling… A superficial measure which, while sparing captive individuals long journeys, does not protect them from the violence of training or the cruelty of confinement… Parc Saint-Léger, against which we filed another complaint in 2023, already gives a chilling glimpse of what awaits these sedentary animals: tiny enclosures, empty feeding bowls, spectators invited to enter the enclosures at the risk of injuring those imprisoned there… Ministry of Ecological Transition 2 December 2025

The State is abandoning the animals: we are fighting back

On 3 July 2023, a new milestone had already been reached with the publication of a ministerial decree establishing an equivalence between circus performers’ certificates of competence and those of zoos, allowing trainers who become sedentary to keep animals of new species, such as giraffes, for example. We obviously challenged this scandalous text. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Ecological Transition deliberately failed to publish the decrees implementing the law, starting with the one on the breeding of big cats, and also failed to finance sanctuaries. For months, it has allowed circus operators to breed lion and tiger cubs left, right and centre in order to fuel illegal trafficking, and to rid themselves, in the worst possible conditions, of the elephants they had kept locked up their entire lives.

In 2024, we challenged the Council of State on the distinction between stationary and travelling establishments. Our request was forwarded to the Constitutional Council where we argued for a ban on wild animals in all circuses.

In its response to a written question from MP Corinne Vignon, proposing support for the sedentarisation of travelling establishments, the government is therefore persisting in its disregard for the spirit of the law of November 2021 and in its determination to continue, at all costs, the worst form of mistreatment of wild animals, many of which belong to endangered species. If this shameful call for expressions of interest is launched, we will react immediately. Sign our petition to add your voice to ours in calling for a ban on animals in circuses.

Stop animals in circuses! Stop animals in circuses! Stop animals in circuses! Stop animals in circuses! Stop animals in circuses! Stop animals in circuses! Stop animals in circuses! Stop animals in circuses! Stop animals in circuses! Stop animals in circuses!

Avian flu: a slew of exemptions for hunting endangered waterfowl

Avian flu: a slew of exemptions for hunting endangered waterfowl
31.12.2025
France
Avian flu: a slew of exemptions for hunting endangered waterfowl
Animaux sauvages

In the regions of Manche, Nord, Loire-Atlantique and Vendée, hunters have once again imposed their will. Despite a major avian flu epidemic currently raging, many prefects, who had banned waterfowl hunting for obvious health reasons, have reversed their decision. Under pressure from the hunting lobby, these bans have been lifted in the name of a supposed “consensus”, paving the way for the slaughter of animals already severely weakened by the disease. One Voice condemns these massacres and alerts public opinion to the significant health risks they pose.

Despite warnings, the hunting of endangered birds continues…

A few months ago, we appealed to the Council of State to suspend the hunting of endangered birds. While the scientific community is sounding the alarm about the very poor conservation status of the species concerned and the biodiversity slowly collapsing, the court rejected our request. In 2025, tens of thousands of pintails, shovelers, wigeons, redwings, corncrakes, teals, pochards and tufted ducks will be slaughtered in the name of a deadly pastime.

These repeated killings are all the more cruel because they rely on the use of “decoy” birds. Raised in captivity, they are exploited as live bait, tied up and deprived of their freedom of movement. The aim is simple for hunters: to make killing easier by tying them down on the water to attract their migrating counterparts.

… and in all circumstances

These animals, which are targeted for much of the year, could have been given a little respite as they face the avian flu epidemic which is already threatening their survival. We have already sounded the alarm about the consequences of hunting during this period and the risks of spreading the disease. Today, a major setback is occurring: new authorisations are being granted as a favour to trigger-happy fanatics.

In the Manche region, waterfowl hunting had been banned due to the epidemic. However, this did not take into account the hunting federations, who were prepared to do anything to allow their members to continue their hobby, despite the health risks… The prefecture gave in by reauthorising hunting in the epidemic surveillance zone. This phenomenon is being repeated in several other regions: Nord, Loire-Atlantique and Vendée… This is senseless for these birds, already weakened by disease, climate change and massive urbanisation.

Hunters placed on a pedestal

Hunting is permitted in wetlands and sensitive areas, but at what cost? This situation illustrates once again the preferential treatment given to hunters, who are systematically listened to and heard, with disregard for wild animals and pets, humans and nature, but also for the rules of common sense.

The parallel with the management of other diseases is striking. Alongside avian flu, bovine nodular dermatosis, for example, has led to the mass slaughter of many cows in recent weeks to contain the spread of the virus. On the one hand, farm animals are sacrificed without hesitation; on the other, demands from hunters continue to be accommodated. And in the middle are the animals, who continue to be the victims of the government’s inconsistent choices. Why is the suspension of activities not being prioritised? Hunting, which increases the risk of flu transmission, is clearly the least appropriate solution to a health crisis of this magnitude.

One Voice condemns these methods which are increasingly contemptuous of animals, and has written to the prefects of Loire-Atlantique, Nord, Manche and Vendée. Join us in sharing this article widely, calling on your elected representatives to reject these special privileges and signing our petitions against the hunting of endangered birds and hunting in general.

Wild boar heads abandoned like common rubbish along a stream in Seyches

Wild boar heads abandoned like common rubbish along a stream in Seyches
22.12.2025
Lot-et-Garonne
Wild boar heads abandoned like common rubbish along a stream in Seyches
Animaux sauvages

On 11 December, the mayor of Seyches (Lot-et-Garonne) observed dozens of wild boar heads abandoned along the banks of a stream and a road. One Voice condemns the intolerable violence inflicted on these animals. To defend them, we are filing a complaint.

Imagine coming across this macabre scene. Hunted down and killed without mercy, most likely by several hunters, these wild boars also had their remains horribly mutilated… before being thrown onto the ground near a house. This is yet another fine example of the respect for nature that rifle-toting hunters are constantly harping on about… Not only do these actions show complete disregard for animals, they also contravene European regulations which aim to combat health risks.

Recurring incidents

This is far from the first time we have had to deal with such disrespect for animals and nature. In December 2022, a wild boar’s head was left on a public bench in the town of Saint-Maurice-de-Cazevieille (Gard) in full view of everyone, including the village children. A few months later, in the Jura region, a huntmaster left the lifeless bodies of dozens of foxes to decompose on the banks of a river. Outraged, we immediately filed a complaint and secured his conviction.

Wild boars, the designated scapegoats

Wild boars know this contempt for animals only too well. Presented as “pests” that must be eliminated at all costs, they are the most hunted species in France. During the 2024-2025 hunting season, nearly 900,000 of them were killed in cold blood. This figure does not even include the killings carried out as part of hunts at the authorities’ initiative or under the regulation on species likely to cause damage (ESOD). This massacre, as cruel as it is absurd, does nothing to alleviate the damage complained of by farmers. Every year, trigger-happy hunters are called to the rescue, much to their delight… without ever solving the problem to which they themselves contribute greatly by breeding wild boars for their bloody leisure activity.

One Voice is filing a complaint about the wild boars killed in Seyches. Join your voice to ours by signing our petition for a radical reform of hunting.

Pure Salmon: stop the ecocidal salmon farm project in the Gironde estuary

Pure Salmon: stop the ecocidal salmon farm project in the Gironde estuary
17.12.2025
Gironde
Pure Salmon: stop the ecocidal salmon farm project in the Gironde estuary
Animaux sauvages

In the Médoc Natural Park at Verdon-sur-Mer, Pure Salmon plans to create Europe’s largest land-based salmon farm. Every year, 3 million fish –equivalent to 10,000 tonnes– would be farmed to die and be consumed. Behind a well-rehearsed discourse on “ecological sustainability” and innovation lies a project that is destructive to animals, the environment and natural resources. One Voice is firmly opposed to it. Join us now in the public consultation running until 19 January 2026 to say no to this project which fuels a model that is far from ethical.

An excessive project in the Gironde estuary

€275 million from Singaporean funds to destroy a sensitive wetland: this is Pure Salmon’s project which involves the construction of an intensive land-based fish farm in an ecosystem that is already fragile and seriously threatened by artificialisation. On an area of around 15 hectares, 10,000 tonnes of salmon would be “produced” each year using a ‘Recirculating Aquaculture System’ in closed tanks and in an ultra-intensive manner, throughout their –all too short– lives.

This model is being presented as more environmentally friendly. Like Local Ocean, it is a genuine attempt at greenwashing: in addition to being experimental, the system poses risks to the estuary’s ecosystem and fish. The consequences are inevitable and numerous: the release of bacteria and the resulting spread of disease, lasting changes to habitats, particularly through eutrophication, soil contamination and disruption to the biological balance of the estuary and local marine fauna. Not to mention the discharge of phosphorus, nitrogen and organic matter. The list is long, and the problems would be multiplied tenfold in the event of a system failure.

Water and electricity resources exploited to excess: not really eco-friendly

Pure Salmon overlooks the fact that mass fish “production” runs counter to resource conservation. Fish farming requires constant monitoring of water temperature to prevent the salmon from suffering heat stress, which requires as much electricity as a town of 40,000 inhabitants.

Added to this is the extraction of 270 m³ of water per hour, or 6,500 m³ per day, from brackish water aquifers –above freshwater aquifers– equivalent to 950 Olympic swimming pools each year… This would eventually lead to salt water infiltration into the freshwater reservoirs. This is food for thought, given the increasing number of heat waves each year.

10,000 tonnes of salmon per year… and 233 billion fish caught to feed them

Pure Salmon extolls the animal welfare in their plans to supply France with salmon. 10,000 tonnes of these animals–an estimated 3 million individuals– would be “produced” in conditions that raise questions. These formidable migrants would live in densities and conditions incompatible with their biological needs, and would be subject to high mortality risks that are not without impact on their wild counterparts.

All these sentient beings will need to be fed, but how? Farming ultimately leads to even more intensive fishing: just to produce the animal meal, 233 billion fish would need to be caught worldwide –mainly off the African coast– and nearly 436,000 tonnes of soya would need to be grown. While the government is falling behind, do we really need to fuel this mass consumption?

Say no to this ecological disaster and the suffering of salmon

One Voice is mobilising against this project and is ready to challenge the authorisations if they are signed by the prefect. Join us by taking part in the public consultation which is open until 19 January 2026: the more people who participate, the better our chances of getting it stopped!

Deer slaughtered in Morbihan: One Voice mobilises for the hearing on 19 December

Deer slaughtered in Morbihan: One Voice mobilises for the hearing on 19 December
11.12.2025
Morbihan
Deer slaughtered in Morbihan: One Voice mobilises for the hearing on 19 December
Animaux sauvages

On 19 November 2023, in Langonnet, several hunters engaged in a veritable bloodbath, slaughtering does and stags. Once again, they considered that their so-called right to kill should be unlimited. While millions of animals are slaughtered every year, for these men it is never enough: they knowingly violated the rules and covered up their offences to give free rein to their desire to kill. In response to these events, One Voice is bringing a civil action and will be present at the hearing on 19 December 2025 at 9am at the police court in Lorient.

Quotas manipulated to kill even more

Hunters are redoubling their efforts to kill even more. The proof was given in Langonnet where some of them deliberately broke the few rules that are supposed to regulate hunting. On 19 November 2023, they cold-bloodedly shot nine red deer stags and six does in a single day. This was despite the fact that only six animals were authorised to be shot for the rest of the 2023-2024 season – which is already far too many.

To cover up these illegal shootings, two does were declared as males, a tag was taken from a neighbouring territory, and hunting documents were falsified. Everything was orchestrated to conceal the reality and circumvent the rules, even though tens of thousands of deer are already killed by hunters each year.

These offences are all the more worrying given that, under pressure from the forestry industry – which tends to reduce nature to a mere “resource” –a recent report proposes to classify these animals as a species likely to cause damage (ESOD). This is an absurd logic that claims to protect forests, or rather the timber industry, while sacrificing those who are their emblematic inhabitants.

Hunting safety concerns, yet another case

As if the illegal killing of deer (and the accompanying fraud) were not enough, the most basic safety rules were ignored. There were no signs indicating that a hunt was taking place. From agricultural land accessible to the public, the hunters fired towards the bottom of a valley where a departmental road runs, without concern for the danger involved. And they did so with ammunition that has a range of several kilometres…

This shows a staggering, but sadly commonplace, irresponsibility. Every year, hunting accidents are on the rise, affecting domestic animals, walkers and local residents. Despite our repeated requests to the Government for effective protective measures, these incidents once again illustrate the urgent need to put an end to this deadly pastime.

For the deer that were killed, the penalties must be exemplary

Manipulating official data to kill more animals makes controls particularly difficult. The hunters face fines, up to five years’ withdrawal of their hunting licence, and safety training for those organising the hunt. For all these animals killed in the shadows, we are fighting for sentences that are commensurate with the illegalities observed.

We will be present at the hearing on 19 December 2025 at 9am at the police court in Lorient. Show your support by denouncing this deadly and cruel practice.