Their image is associated with mountains. They have however acclimatized for years in the Corrèze. Chamois, registered in the 2020-2021 hunting plan for the first time in this department, would have been present for fifteen years on the territory, come from the neighboring Cantal. "He likes it here, on the steep slopes between 400 and 600 meters above sea level," says David Murat, deputy director of the hunting federation.
For Gilles Gorceix, head of the French biodiversity office in Corrèze, his presence "is a wealth in terms of biodiversity". But the animal became comfortable and its population is growing. They would be several dozen now to survey the territory. One of them was even seen at the gates of Brive-la-Gaillarde.
Regulate the population
Two chamois will therefore be "taken" this year by hunters between October and February. An announcement that sparked the mobilization of Internet users, signing over 55,000 petitions to save the animal.
"It's incomprehensible," defends David Murat. We are there to regulate its population. For comparison, we will collect 9,850 deer and 1,600 deer and hinds this year. We cannot accuse hunters of wanting the disappearance of chamois when we ourselves introduced them during the 1970s in Cantal, like the marmot or the bighorn sheep. The objective was to ensure the presence of the species in a sustainable manner in these territories. It is not to eradicate it today! "
