One third of bird species is in decline.
And raptors are not spared by this slow disappearance: the League for the Protection of Birds (LPO) was alarmed on Monday by a "hecatomb" of raptors, victims of shooting during the hunting season.
It calls on the federations of hunters to preserve these protected species.
The discoveries of raptors "riddled with lead have multiplied since the opening of the hunt" in France, wrote in a press release the LPO, citing a list of birds victims of shooting, "far from being exhaustive".
87% of the leaded birds of prey treated by the LPO centers are received during the #hunting period, such as this hawk now paralyzed 😢
That hunters stop denying their responsibility in the proliferation of these illegal acts, most often unpunished 😡
➡️ https: // t.co/SKWvSC7iDD pic.twitter.com/PnNG9gDEMn
- LPO France (@LPOFrance) November 15, 2021
Thus, at the beginning of November, a European hawk was “the target of a rifle fire in the Hérault” and remained paralyzed, then two kestrels were found in the same state in Vaucluse.
In the Paca region, in October, two other hawks and two other kestrels were discovered dead.
“In September, it was a golden eagle in Ardèche, a buzzard in the Gard, a circaète Jean-Le-Blanc, etc.
», Lists the association.
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"These victims are only the visible part of the iceberg as the probability of finding the killed animals is very low", according to the association.
Over the past three years, the care centers it manages have taken care of 109 leaded raptors, of which “87% between the beginning of September and the end of February, that is to say between the dates of the general opening and closing of hunting in France. ".
These are not acts of voluntary hunting, since these birds of prey have been protected since 1976, but “errors of identification” or “deliberate malice” against these birds “essential to the balance of ecosystems, ”recalls Allain Bougrain-Dubourg, President of the LPO.
"Their authors are rarely identified and despite numerous complaints from the LPO, the majority of cases are closed without further action", she regrets, stressing that the destruction of a protected species is punishable by 3 years of imprisonment and a fine of 50,000 euros.
The LPO calls on "hunting leaders to do what is necessary with their members and stop denying their responsibility in the proliferation of these acts".