From the Alps to the Pyrenees: a string of victories for mountain galliformes
Since 2021, One Voice has been fighting to save mountain galliformes whenever prefects deliver them up to hunters, thereby saving thousands of individuals. Once again this year we have taken legal action in several French regions to have the shooting of these endangered mountain birds suspended. Already the courts have ruled in our favour: in the regions of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Hautes-Alpes and Isère, the lives of hundreds of birds will be spared, while several orders for 2022, 2023 and 2024 have been definitively cancelled in Ariège and Pyrénées-Orientales.
Every year, mountain galliformes, already victims of the decline of traditional pastoral practices, as well as of tourism and winter sports, are harassed by hunters with the blessing of the prefectures, when all they want is to live in peace. We are taking legal action to defend these birds, which are classified as near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Hundreds of birds spared in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Hautes-Alpes
Following our requests for summary judgment, the judge in Marseille suspended the orders issued by the prefects of the regions of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Hautes-Alpes. The 122 black grouse and 197 rock partridges and red-legged partridges targeted in these regions will be spared. The Court went so far as to remind the trigger-happy hunters that nothing prevents them from participating in the counting of these mountain animals without demanding the right to slaughter them in return… This is a clear message and an essential recognition of the need to immediately ban the killing of these individuals.
Mixed decisions from the Court in Grenoble
In the Isère region, we have obtained an immediate halt to the slaughter of 84 rock partridges authorised by the Prefect. However, despite our efforts, the judge has rejected our requests against the authorisations granted by the regional hunting federations in Savoie and Haute-Savoie targeting this species and black grouse. This despite the completely unfair tactics of the hunters who waited until the day of the hearing to finally publish these quotas which they had deliberately concealed to prevent us from finding out about them.
This incomprehensible decision challenges a ruling by the Administrative Court of Appeal, which is rare and worrying in so far as it marks a break with a history of court decisions favourable to mountain galliformes.
The illegality of shooting grey partridges in Ariège and the Pyrénées-Orientales confirmed for 2022, 2023 and 2024
With the emergency over, the courts in the Pyrenees have confirmed the illegality of shooting mountain grey partridges in 2022, 2023 and 2024. Whether in the regions of Pyrénées-Orientales or Ariège, the administrative courts of Montpellier and Toulouse have reiterated that it is not acceptable to kill animals for pleasure when their populations are collapsing. They also penalized the authorities for failing to comply with the minimal procedural standards required of them by choosing not to disclose any relevant information about the consequences of their order prior to its publication. This decision will strengthen our fight for next year, if the State once again chooses to brush aside these rulings and continue its relentless persecution of these birds.
After record-breaking seasons in 2023 and 2024, which saved thousands of lives, the results obtained in 2025 confirm the need to protect these animals, victims of the deadly hobby of a small minority. More than ever, we need you to speak up for these birds of the peaks!