The death of Caramelles: the 16 hunters finally convicted!

The death of Caramelles: the 16 hunters finally convicted!
06.05.2025
Ariège The death of Caramelles: the 16 hunters finally convicted!
Wildlife

Our thoughts go out to Caramelles as the hunters who killed her are finally found guilty. They knowingly entered a restricted hunting area and caused her death in November 2021. Justice has finally been served for this mother, whose death left behind two orphans. But what does the future hold for bears in the Pyrenees?

Two days of trial on 18 and 19 March: unprecedented for an animal protection case! Nothing less was sufficient to try the 16 hunters responsible for Caramelles’ death. Their successive acts of recklessness and laxity led to the irreparable: the death of a bear, killed during an illegal hunt in the heart of a hunting and wildlife reserve.

An invasion of the territory of the bear and her cubs

On 20 November 2021, all the signs told the hunters that they were in a restricted area. A place where everyone knew that Caramelles had taken up residence with her cubs. The summer before this disaster, tourists flocked to the area. How can the culprits claim not to have known the whereabouts of this attentive mother?

And yet, blithely flouting the few rules governing their leisure activity, they encroached on her territory. The shooter who found himself face to face with the bear should not have been there. Through his recklessness, he put this family in danger, but also himself. Caramelles wounded him while trying to protect her babies. She died from her injuries, just like her mother Melba, in Haute-Garonne 28 years ago. Today, the 16 poachers have been convicted of deliberately hunting animals in a reserve.

This is an exemplary and coercive decision, calling for hunters to show more responsibility

On 6 May 2025, the Court recognised the successive negligence of the defendants that caused this tragedy. The man who shot Caramelles was given a four-month suspended prison sentence. His hunting licence has been temporarily revoked, as have those of two other defendants. All the others were sentenced to fines, and some had their weapons confiscated. We expected nothing less and hope that the law will be firm with those who harm bears, as the Spanish courts recently demonstrated by sentencing a hunter to prison for similar offences.

The defendants, who know no shame, are going to appeal. We will be meeting them again to defend Caramelles.

This remarkable decision shows how important it is to protect the bears in our Pyrenees, but above all to learn to truly coexist with them. It will not bring Caramelles back, but it does give her posthumous justice. We hope that her two cubs, now grown up, will enjoy peaceful days in the mountains where the authorities continue to allow them to be harassed. This summer we shall once more, if necessary, be in court for the bears, since clearly only associations defend them against the lobbies… Muriel ARNAL President of One Voice

It is time to leave bears in peace, on both sides of the Pyrenees, as called for by 8 out of 10 French people (Ipsos/One Voice survey, November 2024). The State, conspicuously absent from the trial, must take action to protect those who inhabit our mountains, and whom it itself has “reintroduced”. The persecution must stop, whether it be scare shots, poaching or malicious hunters.

In the Territoire de Belfort region, a chamois is hunted down for expressing his natural behaviour

In the Territoire de Belfort region, a chamois is hunted down for expressing his natural behaviour
29.04.2025
Territoire de Belfort
In the Territoire de Belfort region, a chamois is hunted down for expressing his natural behaviour
Wildlife

On 20 November 2024, the prefect of the Territoire de Belfort region authorised huntsmasters to take action throughout the department to kill a chamois. The reason? They allegedly posed a significant risk to public safety and livestock… As always, there was not a shred of evidence to support this claim. Rather than considering alternative solutions, and under the eternal influence of hunters, the authorities once again chose force. We are filing a request for annulment with the Administrative Court in Besançon.

A chamois is being hunted day and night in the Belfort region. The justification? He is said to be behaving “abnormally” and “aggressively”.

A chamois accused of being… a chamois

Two statements from sheep owners —to which we have gained access— without any evidence, as usual: this was enough for the prefecture to organise the hunt for a chamois, first in one municipality, then throughout the department. The animal is singled out for his “abnormal” behaviour. Once again, the state services are demonstrating their ignorance of the lives of free-roaming animals: in the middle of the rutting season, this behaviour is perfectly natural.

Worse still, the text highlights the fear of a risk to traffic and claims that the chamois is “aggressive” towards humans. What nonsense! Knowing that even some elected officials poach them, the question has to be: who is attacking whom? This individual is a victim of misinformation about nature and its inhabitants, like all animals constantly targeted by officially sanctioned hunts.

Death as the only solution, nothing has changed!

Hunted down by hunters under false accusations in the Doubs region, targeted throughout the Belfort region… the chamois are being subjected to a veritable manhunt.

Yet there are alternatives to killing them, for instance moving or protecting the herds… Although the prefecture did consider relocating the chamois, it quickly backed down under the pressure of the hunting federation. Even though the chamois and his companions are already being hunted from September to the end of January, he is the victim of a hateful persecution.

For him and for all the other chamois, One Voice is asking the Administrative Court in Besançon to overturn this insane order. To put an end to the authorities’ absurd management of wildlife, sign our petition for a radical reform of hunting.

All to Tulle on 14 May for Milo and Mina, the wolf couple!

All to Tulle on 14 May for Milo and Mina, the wolf couple!
30.04.2025
Tulle
All to Tulle on 14 May for Milo and Mina, the wolf couple!
Wildlife

As the flocks return to their spring pastures, Milo and Mina, the wolf couple with unique genetics, will be targeted from all sides. This is what the farmers’ unions have relentlessly been demanding from the authorities. We will be there on Wednesday 14 May in front of the Prefecture in Tulle from 10am to 12pm to defend them. Join us!

A couple is already a family, so let them live in peace!

The farming world’s hatred towards all forms of wildlife must not jeopardise this family in the making.

They are the only ones left in the Limousin region, as the relentless persecution of their species has taken its toll on their predecessors: wolf killed in Tarnac in May 2023.

Inseparable, Milo, a German-Polish male, and Mina, a young female wolf of Italian-Alpine origin, embody the hope of a unique lineage, the result of an exceptional genetic combination… But their future is constantly threatened… by the ignorance and cruelty of some.

These two wolves are nothing less than wonders of nature. We are witnessing an encounter between two beings with extraordinary genetics. Let Milo and Mina start a family, unique to our biodiversity, and lay down the guns. I call on the representatives of the farmers’ unions in our region to engage in a dialogue. There are effective solutions to protect these wolves as well as the herds which nobody wants to suffer. Muriel ARNAL President of One Voice

Authorities won over to the “cause” of the livestock lobby

They have not had a moment’s respite since they were discovered in the summer of 2024. Constantly hounded, someone has even managed to injure Milo. We have already defended them to the Prefect, together with our partners at Carduelis, on 19 March. But once again, profit takes precedence over animals and nature in general, the State remains deaf to the arguments of scientists, falling into a Pavlovian reflex on the side of those who only tolerate exploited animals in the mountains.

With this gathering, we want to show that another path is possible, not to say essential, for everyone: that of cohabitation. We call on the representatives of the region’s farmers’ unions to engage in a dialogue. Let’s take inspiration from Abruzzo in Italy, where farmers are used to wolves which have even become a symbol! We call on all those who, like 8 out of 10 French people (according to our 2024 Ipsos survey), believe that these animals have their rightful place in nature.

See you on Wednesday 14 May 2025 in front of the Prefecture in Tulle from 10am to 12pm.

Sign and share our partner’s petition!

Massacres in Sologne: hunting with 4x4s. One Voice brings civil action against six poachers

Massacres in Sologne: hunting with 4x4s. One Voice brings civil action against six poachers
28.04.2025
Centre-Val-de-Loire
Massacres in Sologne: hunting with 4x4s. One Voice brings civil action against six poachers
Wildlife

Illustrative photo from our investigations on hunting

Their guns are no longer sufficient to them. When hunters swap their horses for 4x4s, they use them to massacre deer and wild boar by ramming them at full speed in the forests of the Cher region. This is a story of extremely violent poaching brought to light by the investigation opened by the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB) in 2023. We have filed a civil suit and will be present at the Court in Châteauroux on 30 April 2025 at 1.30 pm.

Ramming animals with 4x4s… for “thrill-seeking”

Ramming animals with 4x4s… for “thrill-seeking”

In 2023, OFB investigators noticed tyre tracks in the middle of the Sologne forest, in an area closed to traffic. They soon discovered that six hunters regularly used these paths, crushing everything in their path.

The agents were in for more surprises. For several years, these men had been in the habit of slaughtering wild animals… by running them over with their vehicles, equipped with “bull bars”. Some indulged in this pastime at night, using searchlights to chase down the animals, before proudly filming themselves among the bloody carcasses.

We demand exemplary sanctions

Like their colleagues who mistreat their dogs and commit repeat offences, they probably felt untouchable and above the law. Their point of view is clear: yes, it’s illegal, but who cares! One wild boar more or less won’t make any difference, so they might as well have a bit of fun. This is a terrifying view of nature and animals that must be severely punished.

These facts are sadly revealing of the mindset of hunters, which our three-year investigation had already brought to light. To protest against this unspeakable violence and to demand exemplary sanctions, we will be present at the Court in Châteauroux on 30 April at 1.30 pm. In the meantime, sign our petition for a radical reform of hunting!

Parliamentary report on pastoralism: wolf attacks on livestock are decreasing

Parliamentary report on pastoralism: wolf attacks on livestock are decreasing
25.04.2025
Parliamentary report on pastoralism: wolf attacks on livestock are decreasing
Wildlife

In its report on pastoralism published in early April 2025, the National Assembly acknowledges that, despite the growth of the wolf population in France, attacks on livestock have decreased in recent years. Killing these animals was never the solution. We once again call for the implementation of appropriate protective measures and for coexistence.

Wherever wolves are present, farmers’ unions portray them as bloodthirsty monsters and demand their extermination, as in the case of Milo and Mina who were relentlessly hunted on the Millevaches plateau. And whenever the prefectures do not allow as many of them to be killed as their detractors would have liked, the latter do not hesitate to encourage poaching. With the sheep soon to leave the plains for the mountains, wolves are more than ever in the crosshairs of those who want them dead. Yet they are far from being the danger we are led to believe.

A text that sets the record straight

On 9 April, the National Assembly published an information report on “the role of pastoralism in land use planning, the causes of its decline and the consequences for the sustainable development of rural areas”. Even while defending this farming method, MPs were unable to refute the figures. Contrary to what the unions would have us believe:

Wolf attacks have not increased in proportion to the increase in the number of individuals and […] rather tend to decrease slightly in absolute terms, perhaps showing the beginning of the effectiveness of protective measures. National Assembly information report

From 2018 to 2021, the number of animals injured or killed fell from 12,331 to 10,900. These losses, incidentally, represent less than 0.15% of the sheep population in France, while those due to other causes (transport accidents, falls, disease, etc.) are ten times higher.

To reinforce this downward trend, better protection of flocks is essential. We keep repeating this, and on this point too, the elected representatives agree with us. They point out that in 2024, if attacks and animals injured or killed have increased in regions where wolves have only recently appeared, it is “mainly due to the weakness of the protective measures which do not yet exist or are only just being put in place, and because shooting operations are not always very effective”.

Instead of persecuting these animals, achieving nothing more than to disperse the packs, or seeking to establish the presumed non-protectability of cattle in an absurd ministerial decree against which we have just lodged an appeal, the government would do better to finally anticipate the arrival of wolves.

Pastoralism is riding roughshod over nature

Before designating canids as the enemies of our countryside, the livestock lobby ought to put its own house in order. Now largely industrialised, pastoralism no longer bears any resemblance to the idyllic image it touts. Between soil erosion, flood risks, deforestation, degradation of water quality, wild animals driven from their territories due to insufficient resources, etc., grazing poses a real threat to the environment, as demonstrated by a report by two scientists specialising in conservation. And to preserve this deadly industry at all costs, we would also have to slaughter wild animals and destroy what little unspoilt nature remains which we humans so desperately need? We will not accept this!

If, like 81% of French people (Ipsos/One Voice survey, November 2024), you recognise that the return of wolves to France is a real boon for biodiversity, sign our petition to put an end to the persecution they are suffering!