Wolves threatened by the pressure from hunters

Wolves threatened by the pressure from hunters
30.04.2019
France
Wolves threatened by the pressure from hunters
Wildlife

While advocating the “regulation of game animals”, hunters want to eliminate wolves who have the misfortune to eat “their own game”. When will we ever have a healthier relationship with animals who are free?

The return of wolves to France schematically divides hunters into three categories. The first, marginal, is that of those who refuse to shoot wolves, believing that these animals are apart, have a special aura and are not « game ». We may be surprised by this radical categorization but it exists in the minds of some.

The second category of hunters are pleased with the return of the wolves, considering that it is an additional « game », whose « exceptional nobility » promises a more interesting hunt for the hunting parties. They arrange shooting permits issued by the state, giving them the impression of enjoying privileges as regards to a « protected » species.

Finally, hunters in the third category refuse the return of wolves, arguing that these « ferocious beasts » will eradicate « their game », that is to say the wild animals with hooves. These hunters advocate a “regulation” of wolves that hides the real desire to eradicate them, when we really know how scarce these animals are. Many local newspapers take up these arguments or rather the absence of arguments on these gun carriers. In the Alpes-Maritimes, a « group of anonymous hunters » recently spoke in the daily newspaper the Nice-Matin to proclaim the need to « regulate the wolves if we want to preserve our species ». Leaders of hunting federations are accustomed to making such comments.

Wolves certainly eat deer, stags, chamois and other ungulates. It’s their staple food, like foxes eat voles, like dolphins eat fish. Who would have the crazy idea of wanting to « regulate » dolphins or orcas? Like them, wolves are self-regulating predators. In the wild, wolves do not proliferate any more than dolphins, orcas or sharks do.

That is to say that 500 wolves – the estimated number of wolves in France – who naturally kill for food will never have as much impact on nature as a million hunters who only kill for fun. Wolves certainly take their part, a vital one, by influencing the ungulate
populations. However, they have never made them disappear. Prey and predators have co-evolved for hundreds of thousands of years. Wolves are part of European ecosystems, as are deer, stags, chamois and wild boar. Yet some would like to hunt them in national parks.

In France the department of Alpes-Maritimes is one of those which has the most wolves in the wild, around a hundred. With a very wide range, we can estimate that these wolves kill 2,000 wild ungulates each year for food. In comparison, at the same time, the 7,000 hunters in the department have officially killed 12,000 ungulates and several hundred thousand
birds and other small animals.

For years, hunters have told us that « taking » (that is, slaughtering) is essential for the « regulation » of wild ungulates which, without hunters, « would proliferate ». Now that a few wolves live in the country’s forests, these same hunters
suddenly forget the « proliferation » of ungulates to imagine
only that of wolves. The authorities reinforce this madness by
seeking to kill more and more wolves.

The
17 million hectares of French forest can accommodate many more wolves
than of present, displeasing the hunters who want to own « game ».
It is high time to abandon this word, « Game » should not
exist. There are only free animals, the property of no one. Wolves
kill by vital necessity. They do not have the choice. Hunters kill
for recreation. They have a choice. It was a hunter who killed in
2004 the last native bear in the Pyrenees, Cannelle. It is the
hunters who today threaten the survival of the few lynxes still
living in eastern France. These people must know that a forest
without a wolf, without a bear, without a lynx is like an ocean
without a dolphin, without an orca, without a shark. The hunters who
want to eliminate wolves are like fishermen who hunt for dolphins,
killer whales, they are like gravediggers amongst the living. Let’s
say it, they’re criminals.

At Saint-Paul Park, a baby tiger and a young audience in danger!

At Saint-Paul Park, a baby tiger and a young audience in danger!
29.04.2019
Oise
At Saint-Paul Park, a baby tiger and a young audience in danger!
Wildlife

At Parc Saint-Paul, in the Oise department (60), the animal keeper Kid Bauer exhibits a baby tiger as a trophy. Extremely objectified, the little beast passes from hand to hand without care or precaution, and undergoes long photography sessions on the knees of the children. This “attraction” presents as many risks for the feline as for the young public. We are filing a complaint against this establishment.

Come here, ladies and gentlemen … And especially the children! A baby tiger awaits you, almost in « free access », under the tent in Saint-Paul park, in the Oise department (60). Keeper Kid Bauer places his new mascot at your disposal to play with, to rock like a baby and to kiss! Your little one can even be photographed with the animal in their arms, against a 10 euro note. A “marvellous” opportunity to immortalize this “magic” moment where a one-and-a-half-month-old animal is man handled like a toy and in a state of intense stress is placed for a few seconds on the lap of your child… Before it is then passed around on to someone else’s lap !

Caresses and mistreatment

The attraction is a great success … So, think, who would not be seduced by this adorable fur ball, as harmless as a soft toy, presented by trainers as a lover of cuddles? The queue is long, toddlers are thrilled … At their age, it is impossible to imagine that adults can tell and / or do anything … However, the young feline does not need all of them these outstretched hands or the constant chain of caresses… On the contrary, they are terrifying to this baby tiger! Between the blinding neon lights, the deafening din, the oppressing crowd, being carried about by members of staff, the hundreds of unknown fingers foraging through its coat, this poor baby has to endure this ordeal.

Sanitary risks

Our investigators reported a video testifying to the multiple traumatic sources to which the baby is subjected. The only love that his eyes
crave is that of his mother, from whom he was snatched! The unhappy mother is also probably looking for him. Besides, where is she hiding? Her baby is not even weaned yet! We have forwarded these images to Dr. Chris Draper for expertise. The biologist, specialist in the welfare of captive wild animals within the Born Free Foundation, worries as we do about the treatment of this fragile feline. In addition, he underlines the risks that constant handling represents for the baby’s health as well as that of the young audience who touch him:

«There is a risk of disease transmission: neither children nor the baby tiger have yet fully developed their immune systems.»

We must therefore react urgently and not let this situation continue!

We are filing a complaint against this establishment and demanding the seizure of the little tiger and its mother. We have the logistics and infrastructure to welcome them and keep everyone, including cats and humans safe !

The disappearance of insects, an unprecedented disaster

The disappearance of insects, an unprecedented disaster
28.04.2019
Monde
The disappearance of insects, an unprecedented disaster
Wildlife

Scientists have concluded, insect populations have collapsed. The consequences are immediate: a fall in the populations of birds, amphibians and bats. One Voice has challenged itself to create a vast network of « Arches of Nature », private sanctuaries and gardens and natural spaces, guaranteeing the absence of pesticides and prohibiting hunting.

If anyone doubted it, the study published in the journal Biological Conservation on February 10^th 2019 is very clear, we are no longer running from a disaster, we are now right up to our necks in it! If from year to year we had noticed that we have heard less and less birds singing in our countryside, few of us may have noticed the decline, much more significant however, the populations of insects. However, it is the disappearance of these insects that has caused the decline in the number of birds.

Researchers from the universities of Sydney and Queensland have synthesized a dozen studies that have been done around the world by various scientific organizations. Their observation is formal: the catastrophe announced by Rachel Carson in 1962 in her work « Silent Spring » has indeed arrived! We have destroyed billions and billions of insects with the over use of pesticides, so much so that we may have reached the point of no return !

The point of no return already reached?

Puerto Rico has lost 98% of its insects! Even in German nature reserves the insect populations have dropped by 80%. We have done no better here in France. This is true for most species’ groups, and especially for pollinators. The consequence of these disappearances is as
serious as it is rapid: 80% of flowering plants are pollinated by insects. Without them, eight to nine plants out of ten would not be here today.

On the survival of insects depends ours

The disaster will not only be felt on the diversity of wild flora, but also on the crops used for our consumption. Without insects, only grasses (wheat, rice, barley, etc.) which are pollinated by the wind, will be able to bear fruit and reproduce ! No more tomatoes, zucchini or apricots ! Our menus will become very sad, this situation will inevitably lead to famines around the world, and with them, their share of human and animal migrations and of course the armed conflicts that they will cause. This from the lack of butterflies, bees or pollinating flies !

Birds already impacted

Already, it is our friends the birds who have paid a very heavy price for our thirst for dominating nature, for intensely producing agricultural products that are increasingly toxic to humans and the environment. The passerine populations have already dropped by more than a third and of course, it is the species subservient to open environments, therefore to agricultural areas, who pay the highest price for the disappearance of insects. Some species, commonplace 30 or 40 years ago, have now become very rare. Thus now, we hear and see rarely the buntings or the grey shrike. The larks, which were still so numerous in our yesterdays, have become scarce over their entire area of presence (despite this very significant drop in their population, the larks are nevertheless still hunted in France, using cruel traditional methods of hunting! …).

Most passerine species, even granivores, require insects (larvae or adults) to feed their young and to feed themselves during the breeding season. In Europe, the loss of 80% of insects over the past thirty years has caused the disappearance of 400 million birds !

There is an emergency, let’s act!

Birds aren’t the only ones experiencing starvation. Bats, shrews, frogs and lizards, also consumers of insects, are directly affected by their
disappearance.

It is our responsibility, and even our duty to act. By our patterns of consumption, of course, by favouring products from organic farming, but also by direct actions for insects. Let’s open up our gardens, meadows and fields! It’s urgent!

Join the One Voice “Arches of Nature” network. Leave flowers and even « weeds » to feed and breed insects away from sprayers. This is the biggest challenge we will face. If collectively we do nothing in practice, the government will continue to favour intensive agriculture which has led us to this disaster.

We are counting on you ! Download and sign the « Arches of Nature » charter and return it by post (One Voice, 7 place de la République, CS 20263, 56007 Vannes Cedex) or by e-mail to info@one-voice.