Mountain Galliformes: One Voice takes up the fight again in 2024!
Last year, our legal action saved over 1,000 galliformes. This year again, the prefects are preparing to reauthorize their hunting. Grey mountain partridge, rock partridge, black grouse, hazel grouse, rock ptarmigan… all are targeted, even though their populations are in constant decline. They are already bearing the brunt of climate change and the destruction of grass by farmed ewes, which means they can no longer feed their chicks. From the Alps to the Pyrenees, we’ll be attacking the decrees as a matter of urgency to demand that the operations be suspended! First hearings at the Grenoble administrative court on September 27 at 10am for the Isère, Savoie and Haute-Savoie regions, and at the Marseille administrative court on October 7 at 2pm for the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence region.
In 2023, an unprecedented number of victories and hunters put in their place by the Council of State
Last year, thanks to our numerous legal victories, Alpine galliform hunters had to put their guns away just a few days after the opening of the season. Panic-stricken, they naturally sought to counter-attack by taking their case to the Council of State against the rulings that were in our favor. But the response was swift: whether in the Haute-Savoie, Savoie or Alpes-de-Haute-Provence region, the judges at the Palais-Royal swept aside and rejected all these appeals.
The hunting of these birds is sadly indicative of the outdated mentality of a small group of individuals who believe that nature belongs to them. They have no problem shooting animals of species on the brink of extinction, whose habitat is being reduced to nothing by global warming and intensive pastoralism, for the sake of their “hobby”! If hunters’ aim was the outright destruction of biodiversity, they wouldn’t be doing it any other way.
In 2024, from the Alps to the Pyrenees, save as many individuals as possible!
On September 15, the culling of these emblematic French mountain birds began in the Alps. In the Savoie, Haute-Savoie, Isère and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence regions, hunters put on their boots and, armed with their rifles, track them down to the very last corner. We won’t let them!
Of course, the prefects waited until Friday evening to publish the acts setting the number of birds who could be killed, a well-known strategy for preventing us from taking legal action in time. But we were ready, with our lawyers, and appeals have already been lodged! On September 27 at 9:30 a.m., the Grenoble administrative court will rule on the orders for the Savoie, Haute-Savoie and Isère regions. On October 7 at 2pm, the judges in Marseille will examine our appeal for the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence region.