The massacring of marmots and hares will continue in Savoie in 2023

On 24 October 2023, the Grenoble Administrative Tribunal decided not to suspend the prefectural decree authorising the hunting of marmots, mountain hares, and brown hares in Savoie. The Association Justice Animaux Savoie (AJAS), ASPAS, Animal Cross, AVES, FNE Savoie, and One Voice regret this decision that is based solely on a lack of urgency and on a more than dubious count of the numbers of these animals.

A process from a bygone era

Marmots and mountain hares are particularly threatened by global warming, tourism, and the growing urbanisation of natural areas. The mountain hare species is classified as ‘near-threatened’ by the IUCN and all of the science is unanimous in saying that the population of marmots has been in constant decline since the 1990s. However, at the Grenoble Tribunal, representatives from the Prefecture and the Departmental Federation of Hunters unanimously argued that everything was fine.

Their proof? An approximate estimate (the figure of 160,000 marmots was mentioned) and a document trying to prove that farmers had sprained their ankles by putting their feet in burrows and that marmots had gnawed on garden hoses. The lawyer from the Departmental Federation of Hunters even went so far as to talk about the “abundance” of marmots and to compare the (supposed) damage caused by the rodents at the Tignes golf course to rats in Paris… An uncouth attempt to leverage irrational fears sparked by the lawyer to create a bad reputation for marmots from nothing.

And yet, while there is no precise count of these animals to show that they are in good health, the Grenoble Tribunal has decided not to suspend the decree authorising the hunting of these two species. All of the scientific studies do, however, maintain that they are in decline…

And now?

Our associations will never give in. A hearing on the merits is still due to happen (the initial one is in several months) that will determine if the decree is well and truly legal. We will therefore continue to bring this case file before the jurisdictions concerned to demand an end to hunting marmots on a national level and to report this scandal to the public who must know about the persecution that these animals are subjected to. Our petition that has already collected almost 80,000 signatures will follow and shows the support that they have been given.

Translated from the French by Joely Justice