Savoie: 3 wolves killed illegally

After the wolf illegally
killed in the Drôme (see our press release of 13/07/17), the
Administrative Court of Grenoble has once again agreed with ASPAS,
FERUS and One Voice, declaring the Order of the Prefect of Savoy of
September 10^th,
2015 as illegal. This decree authorized the slaughter of 6 wolves by
“shooting with a reinforced levy” valid for 6 months on the
massifs of Belledonne, Maurienne and Thabor.

The
judge of interim measures for Grenoble, was seized as a matter of
urgency in 2015, had refused at the time to suspend the licenses to
shoot to kill. 3 of the 6 “killable” wolves were quickly
shot by hunters during the hunt: one adult male on October 17^th,
2015 in Saint-Colomban-des-Villards, a young male the next day in
Saint-André en Maurienne and a Cub on December 5^th
at Valmeinier.

The
Administrative Tribunal is following our argument today: this
shooting was not justified; these wolves were therefore illegally
killed. ASPAS, FERUS and One Voice will seek compensation for the
ecological damage suffered.

The
administrative judge recalls that the hunting of wolves cannot be
allowed if everything has not been implemented to protect herds at
risk of predation. There are indeed means of protection for herds and
a scale of shootings that the prefects can authorize. These shootings
aim to kill wolves, a protected species, only as a last resort, and
only if damage persists despite the implementation of all means of
protection and defensive fire.

More
than unequal, the death of these wolves was also a useless exercise!
Thus, the attacks were more numerous after the execution of these
wolves: 181 attacks yielding 848 victims from January 1^st
to October 15^th,
2015, against 229 attacks yielding 1 300 victims the following year
over the same period (source: DREAL Auvergne- Rhône-Alpes – Damage
data: comparative 2016, 2015 and 2014 from January 1^st
to October 15^th).

Killing
wolves does not help to reduce the damage, this is also noted by the expert who was commissioned by the National Museum of Natural History and the National Office of Hunting and Wildlife, so the solution of
slaughter does not work!

To permit the coexistence
between faunistic biodiversity and pastoralism, a profound change in
farming practices and the French subsidy system – which currently
does not sufficiently encourage the good practices of certain
breeders – is indeed necessary.

ASPAS,
FERUS and One Voice renew their request to stop the shooting of
wolves, and to cancel the compensation paid to breeders who do not
protect their animals.