It is a victory for defenders of the animal cause.
The highest administrative court has decided to ban several traditional hunting techniques, mainly used in the South-West and in the Ardennes.
“The Council of State is canceling today several authorizations to hunt crested lapwing, golden plovers, skylars, thrushes and blackbirds using nets in the Ardennes department, and skylarks using pantes (horizontal nets) and matoles (cages) in the departments of Gironde, Landes, Lot-et-Garonne and Pyrénées-Atlantiques, ”said the court in a press release.
Hunting methods that do not comply with European law
The Council of State considered that these hunting methods did not comply with European law relating to the protection of animals.
On November 30, 2009, the European “Birds” directive banned techniques allowing large-scale capture of birds without distinction of species.
However, an exemption may be granted if no other satisfactory solution exists to capture certain birds.
Read also Toulon: a poacher of protected birds sentenced to one year in prison
In its press release, the Council of State "notes that the ministerial authorizations in question, on the one hand, are not duly motivated and, on the other hand, that the Minister was not able to establish that these Hunting methods, admittedly traditional, are the only ones allowing the capture of crested lapwings, golden plovers, skylarks, thrushes and blackbirds ”. Last June, the same Council of State had ruled the hunting of glue illegal. France was the last country in Europe to resort to this practice.