Traumatic flashball scare shots on wolves

Traumatic flashball scare shots on wolves
02.06.2025
Haute-Savoie
Traumatic flashball scare shots on wolves
Wildlife

We thought we’d seen it all, but now we’re stunned. Wolves are about to undergo a terrifying experiment. A pack in the Haute-Savoie region is to be disturbed and its individuals captured. And for what? To test the effects of a variant of shooting: “traumatic” scaring shots (TEFT) [sic]. Although this initiative is an attempt to find answers to the incessant culling of canids, questions remain as to the real interest of this experiment and its considerable impact.

In September 2024, a public consultation was opened on an experimental project to test a new, non-lethal method of scaring off wolves.

Spearheaded by two recognized organizations, Asters – Haute-Savoie Conservatory of Natural Spaces (CEN74) and the Institute for the Promotion and Research on Protection Animals (IPRA), the project involves capturing up to five individuals, fitting them with GPS collars and, once released, studying their reactions to flashball discharges when attempting to predate flocks. The captures were authorized by two orders issued by the Prefect of Haute-Savoie on March 17, 2025.

A good idea to combat lethal shooting… but nothing new

What’s hard to understand is that breeders can already carry out scare shots, so why inflict further trauma on wolves? 

Is the aim to inflict further pain and fear? This remains unclear, all the more so as the project’s leads themselves acknowledge that this method is “promising but as yet poorly documented”. In other words, we’re about to test a form of increased violence on wolves, with no real guarantee of its effects or effectiveness.

Further persecution

In Passy, after the escaped goats in the prefect’s sights, the wolves are about to be subjected to severe psychological and physical shocks. Is it really necessary to capture five of them, who are already being hunted down relentlessly, in order to verify that these shots are more effective when they prove to be “traumatic”?

High-risk capture, trapping and sequestration for protected animals

The terms of the project’s non-technical summary (RNT) are unambiguous: this is a “non-lethal but painful scaring method”. 

The TEFT project presents significant risks for wolves, both during capture and shooting. Trapping and anaesthetizing can lead to stress, motor disorders, injuries of varying degrees of severity, and disruption of social dynamics within the pack. The flashball shots themselves, although qualified as non-lethal, can nevertheless cause pain, behavioral alterations and, in the event of poor execution, potential handicaps. In fact, the aim of the project is to “subject [the wolf] to a painful experience, so that it learns to avoid herds as a result of this bad experience”. Serious consequences for members of a protected species…

The animals will – fortunately – be “returned to their natural habitat”, but at what cost to their lives and those of their families? A member of the Blaitière pack targeted by these measures was captured on April 6. Who is it? The father or the mother? Did the cubs witness it? The stability and equilibrium of the group help to channel and educate the youngsters.

To put an end to the persecution of wolves in all their forms, sign our petition.

How to track down every last wolf according to the State: new public consultation

How to track down every last wolf according to the State: new public consultation
28.05.2025
France
How to track down every last wolf according to the State: new public consultation
Wildlife

Here we go again: the French government is once again consulting the public to modify the ministerial decree orchestrating the shooting of wolves. One might have hoped that the Ministries of Ecological Transition and Agriculture would have finally reconsidered their position and recognized that herds of cows, horses and donkeys are indeed protectable, but this is not the case! This text is just as hypocritical as the previous ones.

The administration is ever more hypocritical about protection measures

The proposed modifications are nothing more than a smokescreen… Admittedly, the notorious “vulnerability reduction measures” have finally been defined… almost six months after the first public consultation. But what’s absurd is that these “options” include recognized means of protection for sheep and goats (if only they were actually implemented…): surveillance, dogs and electrified pens. We’d be laughing if it weren’t so pathetic.

All the while, the State was proclaiming loud and clear that cow herds could not be protected, going so far as to modify the ministerial project last February at the request of the lobbies: it was the Savoie Mont-Blanc Interdepartmental Chamber of Agriculture that was behind the first amendment to the text. As for the prefects, they haven’t even bothered to carry out the technico-economic analysis required to prove this pretty fable defended by the administration. That’s why we were attacking their illegal decrees en masse. 

All this fuss, only to find that the “vulnerability reduction measures” they pulled out of the hat included “real” protection measures. 

But to question themselves and withdraw the provision relating to the so-called “absence of a technically valid protection scheme”, absolutely not! Breeders shouldn’t think that our dear ministers are turning their backs on them and refusing to shoot wolves. In the meantime, it’s the same old story: these “proposals” won’t be funded.

They all want wolves dead

Because yes, that’s what’s going on: politicians who hate all living creatures have a single goal: to exterminate wolves. Yet another fine example of their political hijacking: they rush to the bedside of the “overwhelmed” breeders and stir up their thirst for death even more. 

When it comes to nauseating draft resolutions against wolves and trampling on their future and that of biodiversity, they always come forward. But when it comes to thinking instead of using rifles, and to actively monitoring animals destined for the slaughterhouse, there’s no one left.

The example of Camille, the latest wolf to appear in the Saône-et-Loire region, is blatantly obvious: as with his predecessor, everyone, including the Minister of Agriculture, wants to see him dead. The prefect has made it easier to shoot wolves, and has swept aside the obligation to protect flocks.

It cannot be repeated often enough: systematically killing wolves will change nothing, because others will come. These majestic animals are here, and they have the right to live.

As for Milo and Mina’s situation on the Millevaches plateau, it shows that the lobbies are fiercely opposed to the development of any form of wildlife. It’s time to get up to date: 8 out of 10 French people (Ipsos/One Voice poll, November 2024) believe that wolves have their rightful place in nature.

Act with us for all wolves in France by denouncing the inadequacy of the measures proposed in the text submitted for public consultation. And to put an end to their persecution, sign our petition.

Stop the breeders’ persecution of Milo and Mina and all other wolves!

Stop the breeders’ persecution of Milo and Mina and all other wolves!
27.05.2025
Corrèze
Stop the breeders’ persecution of Milo and Mina and all other wolves!
Wildlife

At the slightest attack, breeders call for wolves to be slaughtered. Milo and Mina are bearing the cost of this policy on the Millevaches plateau. Some farmers’ unions demonstrated on Saturday to call for their deaths. Everyone is in cahoots to wipe them out, and everyone – public decision-makers included – is making statements, each more nauseating than the last.

Hostility towards Milo and Mina is on the rise…

The very special wolf couple continue to be shot at on the Millevaches plateau.  As soon as last Thursday’s attack was announced, the farming unions were already unleashing their torrent of hatred into the public arena. 

Gathered last Saturday in Saint-Merd-les-Oussines, the farmers are calling for the wolf brigade to be sent on site, and for reinforced defense shooting to be authorized. They denounce the inaction of public authorities. Inaction, really? While the government representatives are literally lending them an attentive ear…

All wolves are already disliked in France. They’re a good excuse to get the votes of the farming world, as shown by the abject proposal for a resolution by deputies to reduce their population by half. 

But farmers still want more, and will not stop until their wish is granted: the eradication of these wild canids, which are intrinsically European. 

… and a lobby making more and more slanderous statements

It’s almost funny: Fabien Marcilloux, president of Modef Corrèze, says: “Our thoughts are mainly with the game. We’re here again today for the massacre of a herd.” What is he referring to? The wild animals that the hunters put to death one after the other, or those in his care before they are taken to the slaughterhouse? Either way, these words speak volumes about his feelings towards animals. It’s hardly surprising that he should attack wolves, despite the fact that 8 out of 10 French people consider their return to be a real boon for biodiversity (Ipsos/One Voice poll, November 2024).

According to Corrèze Senator Daniel Chasseing: “Wolves are not compatible with livestock farming. And when there are too many of them, it’s impossible to continue farming.” Prefect Vincent Berton, for his part, is true to the characteristic cowardice that seems to be the hallmark of government representatives: “We’re going to have to adapt. But the wolf is a protected species. I don’t think we have to learn to live with the wolf. You have to be able to protect yourselves from it.”

Don’t they mean to say that it’s livestock farming and intensive pastoralism that are incompatible with wild animals and that trample on their territory? They’re at home here, and as much a part of nature as we are. Wolves have the right to live. Let’s prevent their extermination!

And yet: as in Saône-et-Loire, where Camille is already being hunted down, the prefect has also called in the wolf brigade in June: Milo and Mina’s days are numbered… We’ll fight to the bitter end for them. Join our fight by signing our petition to end the persecution of wolves.

Wolves: in the Saône-et-Loire region, let’s save Camille, threatened with imminent slaughter

Wolves: in the Saône-et-Loire region, let’s save Camille, threatened with imminent slaughter
19.05.2025
Saône-et-Loire Wolves: in the Saône-et-Loire region, let’s save Camille, threatened with imminent slaughter
Wildlife

Wolves are being exterminated one by one in the Saône-et-Loire region, and Camille, the latest arrival, is no exception. The lieutenants of louveterie and pests, under the orders of the prefect, have already been after him since Thursday evening (15/05/2025). He was even the target of a shot. The Prefecture and the Ministry are always quick to slaughter a single wolf and destroy all the biodiversity he is responsible for, as long as they can satisfy hunters and certain breeders.

Photo: OFB

In the Saône-et-Loire region, the only response to the arrival of wolves on the territory is lethal shooting. The State has opted for systematic death, and these wild cousins of dogs have been shot one after the other, in 2020, 2021 and 2023. 

Barely arrived, already hunted down

When Camille’s presence in the village of Morey was confirmed, hateful reactions abounded: the FDSEA and Jeunes Agriculteurs 71, true to form, called for the kill in an open letter.

As usual, the Prefect bowed to the wishes of the breeders, who have always refused to protect their herds destined for the slaughterhouse. He facilitated the shootings, without in any way requiring the implementation of protective measures. 

Camille has therefore become prey since last Thursday. “The wolf was shot on Thursday evening, but missed,” said the prefect, much to his dismay.

The prefect is rubbing his hands, however, as he has summoned the OFB’s national brigade to get the wolf. A veritable hunt is underway. Financed by taxpayers. 

Only one solution: cohabitation

It’s inconceivable to hate nature so much. It’s obvious that the successive culling of every wolf in the Saône-et-Loire region has done nothing to reduce the number of attacks. Every time a wolf is killed, another one takes their place. It’s time to stop constantly playing the fear card and refusing to question the situation. It’s high time for the State to assume its responsibilities and encourage farmers to assume theirs. Muriel ARNAL President of One Voice

Electrified pens, guard dogs and human presence: these are the solutions for “protecting” animals. Contrary to what the French Minister of Agriculture claims, there are other solutions than culling, which proves cruel and ineffective every time. 

Why always kill rather than live together? 7 out of 10 French people (Ipsos/One Voice poll, November 2024) think that it is unacceptable for the State to slaughter animals from protected species for the simple reason that they may represent a risk to livestock farming, and 81% consider that the return of wolves to France represents a real benefit for biodiversity.

Another path is possible, as in Mexico or Abruzzo.

For all the wolves in France, we are present wherever they are in danger, as for Milo and Mina, but also before the courts where we are challenging the decrees administering their death. To put an end to their persecution, sign our petition!

Underground badger hunting out of season: a practice that yields… and will eventually break!

Underground badger hunting out of season: a practice that yields… and will eventually break!
14.05.2025
France
Underground badger hunting out of season: a practice that yields… and will eventually break!
Wildlife

In 2023 and 2024, our large-scale campaigns against the horror of underground hunting saved thousands of badgers from a violent and painful death. Even though dozens of rulings have ruled this indiscriminate hunt illegal, because young badgers are systematically killed, some prefects are determined to allow hunters to have a little “fun” out of season. But we’re making progress: the number of departments authorizing hunting from May 15 has never been so low before, dropping from 72 in 2020 to… 12 in 2025! Once again this year, we’ll be out on the streets and in court to keep up the pressure.

Badgers, favorite target of prefects and hunters

Beneath their discreet appearance, these animals are endowed with a fascinating  intelligence. At night, when they’re not sleeping, they live as a family in intricate burrows that they carefully maintain. They play, educate newborns in late winter and early spring, and play an active part in balancing ecosystems… underground, but not safe. A few weeks after the births, just as the youngest begin to emerge from their refuge, the diggers get their shovels, guns and knives ready to kill them after hours of stalking.

To protect a cruel and extremely violent hobby, the prefects will do anything. The pretexts are each more fallacious than the last: here, badgers are accused of attacking herds of bovines; elsewhere, they are incriminated for destroying several tons of crops. At this rate, perhaps they’ll end up being accused of eating children… This intolerable relentlessness must stop!

From 72 in 2020 to 12 in 2025: the beginning of the end for complementary periods?

In 2023 and 2024, the large-scale campaigns we ran in the field and in the courts with our 

partners helped save thousands of lives. Today, judges are (almost) unanimous: yes, this practice is illegal! Some prefectures even recognize this themselves, as in the Loire-Atlantique region where nearly a third of the animals killed are young badgers, and nearly a third of the females massacred have just given birth. A death sentence for their still-dependent young.

Faced with us, the diggers are deploying all their energy and influence to get the authorities to ignore these rulings. But they cannot resist indefinitely, and the fight is bearing fruit more than ever: in 2025, only 12 departments are preparing to authorize underground hunting from mid-May, compared with 19 in 2024 and 72 in 2020!

With ASPAS and AVES, we are organizing a first salvo of requests in the Mayenne, Allier, Cantal and Puy-de-Dôme regions. Above all, May 15 is World Badger Day! You can now join our national action in your nearest town to speak up on their behalf and that of the foxes, and sign our petition to demand a ban on digging up these animals!

Wolves in the Saône-et-Loire region: refusing to live together means choosing regression

Wolves in the Saône-et-Loire region: refusing to live together means choosing regression
14.05.2025
Saône-et-Loire
Wolves in the Saône-et-Loire region: refusing to live together means choosing regression
Wildlife

The recent publication of the Saône-et-Loire FDSEA’s (one of the region’s agricultural unions) open letter to the Prefect takes us sadly back to a time when the only response to nature’s challenges was extermination. While the last survivor was killed in February (under dubious conditions which are still under investigation and for which we have lodged a complaint), a new individual has apparently been spotted, and immediately the old refrains come to life: “We have to kill it”. No reflection, no hindsight, no desire to build a lasting coexistence. Just the Pavlovian reflex to shoot.

Photo: OFB

Since their return to Saône-et-Loire in 2019, all the wolves that have settled there have been shot one after the other: in 2020, 2021, 2023. The last one was found suspiciously dead in February 2025. Despite this, a new individual has just been spotted in the department this May: proof that culling is ineffective, and that cohabitation is the only solution. 

Protecting farm animals? Unthinkable for agricultural lobbies

Certain villages have been classified as circle 1 (zone eligible for the herd protection measure), enabling farmers to benefit from financial aid to implement them: dogs, electrified pens, reinforced guarding, etc. But instead of seizing this opportunity to revise their practices, the farming unions prefer to ask for… a downgrading! In other words, they’re refusing aid so they don’t have to take responsibility for their herds. At this point, it’s no longer negligence, it’s deliberate sabotage of any policy of cohabitation.

The message is clear: no compromise, no dialogue, no evolution. Just the outright extermination of wolves, a species that is protected at European level and whose return to France is both a strong signal of ecosystem restoration and a crucial test of our ability to live in harmony with the wild world.

To reject existing measures is to exploit animal suffering for ideological ends. It’s playing the fear card to maintain an agricultural model that refuses to be called into question. Cries of psychological distress when faced with the corpses of sheep are unacceptable when, at the same time, you refuse to accept your responsibilities.

We repeat loud and clear: the presence of wolves is not a threat, it’s a challenge. A challenge to our collective intelligence, to our ability to adapt, to our sense of responsibility towards biodiversity. Killing this wolf won’t solve anything. Others will come, as history has proven since 2019. It’s a trick to believe that a protected species can be eradicated by means of derogations and political pressure. On the other hand, setting up electrified parks, having dogs and being physically present on site for some, supporting breeders for others, and preserving living things for all – this is a path that makes sense.

We therefore call on the public authorities not to give in to pressure from the most retrograde agricultural lobbies, to maintain the villages in circle 1 and to extend it to others, to reinforce aid for protection and, above all, to pursue a policy based on science, law and ethics. Living things cannot be managed with a rifle. Nature must be respected.

Sign to demand an end to the slaughter of wolves Sign to demand an end to the slaughter of wolves Sign to demand an end to the slaughter of wolves Sign to demand an end to the slaughter of wolves Sign to demand an end to the slaughter of wolves Sign to demand an end to the slaughter of wolves Sign to demand an end to the slaughter of wolves Sign to demand an end to the slaughter of wolves Sign to demand an end to the slaughter of wolves Sign to demand an end to the slaughter of wolves

Historic victory for ESOD! 27 declassifications mean thousands of animals saved

Historic victory for ESOD! 27 declassifications mean thousands of animals saved
13.05.2025
France
Historic victory for ESOD! 27 declassifications mean thousands of animals saved
Wildlife

“ESOD”. Behind these four letters lies a cruel and violent reality: 18 species declared undesirable and hundreds of thousands of animals slaughtered every year. In 2023, the State drew up the macabre list of nine Group II species, targeted department by department: foxes, martens, stone martens, weasels, Eurasian jays, Eurasian magpies, European starlings, carrion crows and rooks… Almost 500 classifications, based on archaic, outdated criteria. Today, the Council of State has partly ruled in our favour with a historic decision: it has removed martens from this list of shame throughout France, and pronounced 26 removals in the departments!

26 classifications judged illegal and martens removed from the list throughout France

For these harassed animals, life is nothing but a struggle to escape shots and traps. In addition to hunting and administrative hunts, they can be massacred by landowners almost all year round. And when the bullets aren’t flying, there are the traps that maim and kill, the cages that close before a trapper finishes the job with a gun, knife or hand. ESODs are not the only victims, like Cooper, Red Collar or Tigrou, and all the pets that are injured, sometimes fatally.

As soon as it was published, we challenged the decree that issued almost 500 classifications throughout France. Today, the Council of State has confirmed that dozens of them were illegal. From now until June 30, 2026, in these departments, animals of these species will no longer have to endure this constant harassment. For martens, the victory is total: their very presence on the list, throughout France, has been called into question. 

ESOD: an obsolete murderous “logic” in the hot seat

For years, we and our partner associations have been denouncing the unfounded and absurd nature of the criteria used to draw up this list. No animal is inherently evil, and no species deserves to be harassed. It’s high time we abandoned these outdated reflexes and realized just how much these animals contribute to our lives, like the foxes that feed on brown rats and slow the spread of diseases such as Lyme disease. And because animals simply have the right to live for themselves.

With this decision, the Council of State has condemned this murderous logic. Criticized by certain government departments themselves, the ESOD regime is now hanging by a thread. More than ever, we will keep up the pressure to ensure that it is definitively called into question, by continuing to demand a radical reform of hunting! And we’ll keep up the fight for all animals still on the list.

Species removed from the ESOD list by the Council of State : 

• Martens: throughout France;

• Stone martens: Aveyron, Morbihan and Territoire de Belfort;

• Foxes: Aveyron, Haute-Loire and Lozère outside areas where they are likely to cause damage;

• Rooks: Nord and Pas-de-Calais;

• Carrion crows: Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Hautes-Alpes, Aveyron, Bouches-du-Rhône, Haute-Loire and Vaucluse;

• Eurasian magpies: Ariège, Charente, Haute-Garonne, Gers, Maine-et-Loire, Somme and Essonne;

• European starlings: Corrèze, Meurthe-et-Moselle and Meuse;

• Eurasian jays: Corrèze and Lot-et-Garonne.