Death of a lynx, court ruling: Press release

Death of a lynx, court ruling: Press release
20.05.2026
Vosges
Death of a lynx, court ruling: Press release
Wildlife

The woman who fatally struck a young Eurasian lynx with a spade in Niederbronn-les-Bains in October 2024 was sentenced on Wednesday 20 May 2026 by the Criminal Court of Strasbourg to a three-month suspended prison sentence. The court also recognised the existence of ecological damage amounting to 25,000 euros to the Centre Athénas, in addition to the compensation awarded to One Voice and the wildlife centre.

The Criminal Court of Strasbourg found the defendant guilty of fatally wounding a young Eurasian lynx with a spade in Niederbronn-les-Bains in October 2024. The defendant was given a three-month suspended prison sentence.

The court also awarded damages to the civil parties, including 25,000 euros in respect of ecological damage to the Athénas Centre, as well as compensation for non-pecuniary damage and legal costs to One Voice, the Athénas Centre and the other organisations acting as civil parties.

For One Voice, this decision constitutes recognition of the harm caused to a strictly protected species, even if the sentence remains lenient given the seriousness of the offence.

An important ruling on ecological damage

Ecological damage legally recognises the harm caused to the environment, independently of any harm to the specific interests of individuals or organisations.

The 25,000 euros awarded to the Centre Athénas will help fund the care and conservation of lynx taken in by the centre.

Whilst no court ruling can undo the death of the young lynx, this sentence nevertheless serves as an important illustration of the legal recognition of harm caused to wildlife. Ecological damage is recognised on the grounds of harm caused to a species with fragile populations, such as the lynx. However, for One Voice, there is still some way to go before the law recognises the harm suffered by the animal itself as an individual, with a right to life and existence.

A lynx population that remains extremely vulnerable

The Eurasian lynx remains one of the most endangered mammals in France. Its population is currently estimated at around 150 adults across the whole of the country, mainly distributed in the Jura, with a few individuals present in the Alps.

The Vosges mountains remain particularly vulnerable. In 2025, only around ten lynx were detected and regularly monitored there, most of which originated from the reintroduction programme carried out in the German Palatinate region.

In this context, every death represents a considerable loss for the future of the species.

A case that highlights the difficulties of coexisting with wildlife

This incident also serves as a reminder of the need to raise public awareness of how to behave when encountering wild animals.

The young lynx, spotted a few days before the tragedy in the centre of Niederbronn-les-Bains, appeared disoriented and had likely been prematurely separated from its mother. Its unusual presence in a populated area in no way justified such violence.

For One Voice, protecting large predators also involves fostering a culture of respectful coexistence with wildlife.

Death of a lynx, court ruling: Press release

Death of a young lynx in the Vosges: a lenient sentence but substantial damages awarded

Eurasian lynx killed in Alsace: a lenient sentence but ecological damage recognised

Eurasian lynx killed in Alsace: a lenient sentence but ecological damage recognised
20.05.2026
Niederbronn-les-bains
Eurasian lynx killed in Alsace: a lenient sentence but ecological damage recognised
Wildlife

The woman who fatally struck a young boreal lynx with a spade in Niederbronn-les-Bains in October 2024 was sentenced on Wednesday 20 May 2026 by the Strasbourg Criminal Court to a three-month suspended prison sentence. The court also recognised the existence of ecological damage amounting to 25,000 euros to the Centre Athénas, in addition to the compensation awarded to One Voice and the wildlife centre.

The Strasbourg Criminal Court found the defendant guilty of fatally wounding a young Eurasian lynx with a spade in Niederbronn-les-Bains in October 2024. The defendant was given a three-month suspended prison sentence.

The court also awarded damages to the organisations acting as civil parties, including €25,000 for ecological damage to the Athénas Centre, as well as compensation for non-pecuniary damage and legal costs to One Voice, the Athénas Centre and the other organisations acting as civil parties.

For One Voice, this decision constitutes recognition of the harm caused to a strictly protected species, even if the sentence remains lenient given the seriousness of the offence.

An important ruling on ecological damage

Ecological damage legally recognises the harm caused to the environment, independently of any harm to the specific interests of individuals or organisations.

The 25,000 euros awarded to the Centre Athénas will help fund the care and conservation of lynx taken in by the centre.

Whilst no court ruling can undo the death of the young lynx, this sentence nevertheless serves as an important illustration of the legal recognition of harm caused to wildlife. Ecological harm is recognised on the grounds of damage caused to a species with fragile populations, such as the lynx. However, for One Voice, there is still some way to go before the law recognises the harm suffered by the animal itself as an individual, with a right to life and existence.

A lynx population that remains extremely vulnerable

The Eurasian lynx remains one of the most endangered mammals in France. Its population is currently estimated at around 150 adults across the whole of the country, mainly distributed in the Jura, with a few individuals present in the Alps.

The Vosges mountains remain particularly vulnerable. In 2025, only around ten lynx were detected and regularly monitored there, most of which originated from the reintroduction programme carried out in the German Palatinate region.

In this context, every death represents a considerable loss for the future of the species.

A case that highlights the difficulties of coexisting with wildlife

This incident also serves as a reminder of the need to raise public awareness of how to behave around wild animals.

The young lynx, spotted a few days before the tragedy in the centre of Niederbronn-les-Bains, appeared disoriented and had likely been prematurely separated from its mother. Its unusual presence in a residential area in no way justified such violence.

For One Voice, protecting large predators also involves fostering a culture of respectful coexistence with wildlife.

Eurasian lynx killed in Alsace: a lenient sentence but ecological damage recognised

Death of a young lynx in the Vosges: a lenient sentence but substantial damages awarded

 

Wolf cub in mortal danger: Press release

Wolf cub in mortal danger: Press release
13.05.2026
Savoie
Wolf cub in mortal danger: Press release
Wildlife

In Saint-Nicolas-la-Chapelle (Savoie), a young orphaned wolf cub, suffering from mange and visibly weakened, has been surviving alone since the death of its parents—who appear to have been shot—and its sister. Despite warnings issued by One Voice, the authorities have made no plans to take the cub into care. This tragedy comes against a backdrop of an unprecedented hardening of policies against wolves across the country.

They have been the town’s main attraction for the past few months. Two wolf cubs, orphaned following the death of their parents—who were apparently shot—have been roaming around the town of Saint-Nicolas-La-Chapelle. Not at all shy, they have been staying close to the houses. Behind these charming encounters lies a far more brutal reality. Left to fend for themselves, starving, not knowing where to go and having never learnt to hunt, these two cubs have suffered the most utter distress. The young female did not survive. Found by the side of a road in a pitiful state and left to her fate without care, she died a few days later. As for the young male, now alone, he embodies all our concerns.

Emaciated, suffering from mange, disoriented, he is wasting away before everyone’s eyes. Yet, despite the warnings and the request made by One Voice, the authorities refuse to intervene. The order seems clear: let this wolf cub die.

For One Voice, this tragic situation is not an isolated incident. It is the direct consequence of an increasingly brutal French policy towards wolves.

“Their obsession is that wolves should die one after the other. The suffering of this wolf cub is the responsibility of the authorities and of a government that has bowed to lobbies whose sole aim is to kill animals,” denounces Muriel Arnal, president of One Voice.

A series of alarming cases

This tragedy comes at a particularly worrying time for wolves in France.

On 10 May, a female wolf found trapped in the Seine-Maritime region was sedated and then confined to a wildlife park following pressure from certain farmers present at the scene. One Voice immediately protested against this completely illegal decision targeting a strictly protected species and announced it would take legal action if the wolf was not released. The government then intervened, and on 13 May the prefecture announced that the wolf would be transported to the Alps to be released there.

The organisation had proposed, as it has done for the wolf cub, that the animal be taken into care at its sanctuary in Italy, a country that respects and nurtures its natural heritage, rich in biodiversity.

It is delighted that this wolf has been returned to the wild, but regrets having had to exert pressure to achieve this outcome which was the only acceptable one.

Nevertheless, a full investigation must be carried out into the traps set by a hunter in the forest of Saint-Pierre-des-Jonquières. In France, wolves live under constant threat: shootings made easy, record culling quotas, arbitrary confinement… Everything now seems designed to make their long-term survival impossible.

Only around 1,082 wolves remain on French territory, far below the viability threshold estimated by scientists at between 2,500 and 5,000. Yet up to 23% of them can now be killed each year.

A government orchestrating the decline of wolves

This policy could get even worse with Article 14 of the ‘Agricultural Protection and Sovereignty’ bill, which is due to be debated in the National Assembly on 19 May. This provision aims to create a special regime for wolves, offering less protection than that applicable to protected species, paving the way for a de facto downgrading of the species.

Under the guise of saving herds of livestock that are supposedly impossible to protect in France – even though they are being protected without problem elsewhere – the government is primarily seeking to institutionalise an ever-more-massive culling policy, even though science shows that culling does not sustainably reduce attacks on livestock.

The situation in France now appears particularly regressive compared to many European countries.

One Voice calls for immediate action

Given the cub’s alarming condition, One Voice is calling for urgent veterinary intervention and appropriate care to ensure its survival and rehabilitation.

The organisation is also calling on MPs to remove Article 14 from the draft agriculture bill and to put an end to this policy of relentless persecution of wolves.

Wolf cub in mortal danger: Press Release

A wolf cub in mortal danger in the Savoie region: in France, the persecution of wolves continues

Badgers: one suspension and three revocations mark a further setback for digging-out

Badgers: one suspension and three revocations mark a further setback for digging-out
13.05.2026
France
Badgers: one suspension and three revocations mark a further setback for digging-out
Wildlife

With World Badger Day just a few days away, four new victories have been added to those already secured by the organisation One Voice in its fight against the digging-out of badgers, a particularly cruel form of hunting. To raise public awareness, two events are planned on Saturday in Metz and Sunday in Limoges.

One Voice has just secured four new victories against the underground hunting of badgers, a barbaric practice that involves pursuing entire families into their burrows to slaughter them.

In the Marne region, the courts have once again called a halt to digging-out

On 7 May, the Administrative Court of Châlons-en-Champagne issued an emergency suspension of the additional period of underground badger hunting scheduled in the Marne region from 15 June to 15 September 2026.

Following a petition by One Voice, ASPAS and AVES, the judge noted in particular the total lack of data on the badger population, the lack of justification for the damage, and the impossibility for the prefecture to ignore the numerous decisions already handed down on the subject, notably by the Administrative Court of Appeal of Bordeaux.

This decision marks the first suspension of the 2026 season. Above all, it serves as a stark reminder: prefectures cannot continue to authorise the slaughter of badgers, nor turn a blind eye to the fate of the young still dependent on their mothers.

In Limoges, three new orders overturned by the courts

The Administrative Court of Limoges has also just overturned the orders authorising additional periods of underground badger hunting in 2024 in the Creuse, Corrèze and Haute-Vienne regions.

Once again, the judge ruled that these orders violated Article L.424-10 of the Environmental Code, which prohibits the killing of young mammals, and that potential damage or alleged overpopulation cannot justify an exemption.

These new rulings add to a long series of victories secured by One Voice and its partners against prefectural orders authorising additional hunting seasons. They are a follow-up to the landmark ruling handed down by the Administrative Court of Appeal of Bordeaux on 24 February 2026, which reiterated that young badgers still dependent on their mothers are ‘young animals’ protected by environmental law.

Despite this, the prefectures – and even the Ministry for Ecological Transition, which has just brought an appeal before the Council of State – persist in defending hunting interests at all costs, even if it means ignoring scientific knowledge, court rulings and the suffering inflicted on these animals.

Eight hours of terror underground

Underground hunting, also known as ‘digging-out’, involves cornering badgers at the bottom of their burrows using dogs sent into the tunnels. Once located, the animals are dug out with pickaxes and crowbars, seized with large metal tongs and then killed.

This hunt can last up to eight hours…

For years, through its undercover investigations and legal actions, One Voice has been exposing the extreme violence of this archaic practice, carried out solely for the pleasure of a handful of individuals. Young badgers still dependent on their mothers are among the victims.

By 2024, the organisation had already helped save nearly 4,000 badgers through its legal challenges against prefectural orders. This campaign continues unabated in 2025 and 2026 to put an end to this abomination.

To mark World Badger Day,

One Voice is calling for action

To mark World Badger Day, celebrated on 15 May, One Voice and its volunteers will organise several awareness-raising events to alert the public to the suffering inflicted on these animals.

Metz – Saturday 16 May 2026, from 2pm to 5pm, between Galeries Lafayette and the Merten Column, Rue Winston Churchill.

La Rochelle – 17 May 2026, from 2.30 pm to 5 pm, Place des Petits-Bancs.

Badgers: one suspension and three revocations mark a further setback for digging-out

Four new victories for One Voice against underground badger hunting

Hartini-Muller Circus: Press Release

Hartini-Muller Circus: Press Release
13.05.2026
Houdan
Hartini-Muller Circus: Press Release
Wildlife

Following an unauthorised set-up in Melun, the Hartini-Muller Circus has just pitched its big top and cages in Houdan, this time with the local council’s approval. This circus keeps several animals, including big cats, in conditions of severe mistreatment. One Voice has filed a complaint with the District Court of Melun.

After setting up without authorisation in the town of Melun, the Hartini-Muller Circus has just pitched its big top in Houdan. Several performances are scheduled between now and Sunday 17 May.

Alarming conditions of captivity observed on site

In Melun, a complaint was filed by the landowner, and the municipality unsuccessfully initiated proceedings to secure an emergency eviction. Our organisation, for its part, has filed a complaint with the District Court of Melun.

Sent to the site, a One Voice investigator observed several animals being kept in severely abusive and illegal conditions. In particular, four big cats – two lions and two tigers – were pacing round in circles in their cramped trailers, but there were also chickens crammed into a tiny cage, a dog equally distressed behind four fences, three ponies, a goat, a horse and a llama kept directly on the tarmac without any bedding. The lions, tigers and dog all display stereotypical behaviour of repetitive actions that betray their deep distress.

Furthermore, the big cats were not taking part in the show but were simply being presented to the public in their cages, in breach of current regulations. By law, their captivity is conditional upon their participation in the acts.

Same family, same practices

Cousins of the Muller Circus – the very same circus that keeps the hippopotamus Jumbo for whom our association has been fighting for a decade – the Muller-Hart family moves from place to place without staying long in any one spot and without giving advance notice of their arrival. This hypermobility is, of course, strategic: it complicates inspections and hinders interventions, despite repeated reports.

These methods, which follow a clear strategy of evasion, are by no means exceptional: they are the norm in an industry that operates with complete impunity. Far from putting a stop to this, the State continues to fund and support them through subsidies, indirect aid and administrative leniency.

Behind every failure on the part of the authorities, there are captive animals of endangered species, silenced and forced to pay the price for this inaction. Animals are not objects of entertainment. Our organisation invites the public to sign our petition calling for an end to the use of animals in circuses.

Hartini-Muller Circus: Press release

One Voice calls for a boycott of the Hartini-Muller circus, currently stationed in Houdan

Capture of a female wolf, press release

Capture of a female wolf, press release
12.05.2026
Seine Maritime
Capture of a female wolf, press release
Wildlife

A female wolf, found caught in a trap on Sunday 10 May in the Seine-Maritime region, was anaesthetised and then transferred to a wildlife park following the intervention of the authorities. One Voice questions the legality of this decision regarding an animal belonging to a protected species, and expresses grave concern about the consequences for her, as well as for her potential litter, in the middle of the breeding season.

On Sunday 10 May, a female wolf was found in Saint-Pierre-des-Jonquières, in Seine-Maritime, caught in a trap intended for foxes. Soaked, terrified and unable to escape, she is believed to have waited several hours before being discovered and taken into custody by the authorities.

Whilst a release back into the wild had initially been considered, the decision was ultimately made to transfer her to Muchedent Park following protests from some farmers present at the scene. The wolf was anaesthetised and then placed in captivity.

For One Voice, this decision is extremely worrying. The organisation questions the legal basis that allowed the confinement of a strictly protected species instead of its immediate release into its natural habitat. It also fears that this wolf may be a nursing female with cubs waiting for her, in the middle of the breeding season.

“If farmers now have enough power to pressure the authorities into locking up a protected wild animal, what will happen tomorrow if this wolf is released without protection?”, warns Muriel Arnal, president of One Voice. “In a context where the government is making it ever easier to shoot wolves, we are extremely concerned for her fate and that of her pack, which is surely waiting for her.” 

The organisation condemns a growing climate of persecution against wolves in France, fuelled even at the highest levels of government, thereby trampling on any possibility of coexistence and respect for biodiversity.

Should it be confirmed that this female wolf has no cubs, One Voice proposes to transfer her to its partner sanctuary in Italy so that she may be treated and then released in a country where wolves are not condemned to a life of constant persecution. The organisation is currently considering possible legal action to defend this female wolf and shed full light on these worrying acts.

Capture of a female wolf, press release

One Voice condemns the capture of a female wolf in Seine-Maritime