Not all animal species can be stuffed.
A distinction must be made between domestic animals and wild animals, protected or not.
What are the rules surrounding the practice of taxidermy?
Our answers.
To discover
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Can an animal be stuffed?
A pet
In France, it is possible to stuff a pet.
You can have your pet stuffed, for example your dog or your cat.
It is the taxidermist, an experienced professional, who is responsible for naturalizing the animal according to the rules of the art.
The decree of August 11, 2006 sets the list of species, breeds or varieties of domestic animals that can be stuffed.
A savage animal
If it is not a protected species, it is authorized to have a wild animal stuffed.
A protected animal
In order to protect wildlife, the naturalization of protected wild animals is prohibited
(
article L411-1 of the Environmental Code
)
.
It concerns all non-domestic animal species that have not been modified by selection by humans.
Stuffing a protected species is prohibited, regardless of the cause of the animal's death, natural or accidental.
Each protected species, for which there is a ban on naturalization, is listed in a ministerial decree.
We find for example:
capercaillie
the bat
the squirrel
the Beaver
the weasel
the wolf
The INPN site also lists a list of regional protected species.
Good to know
The protection of wild species is also organized by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites), also called the Washington Convention.
She lists the animals they protect, including naturalization.
For example, it is forbidden to buy a stuffed lion cub.
Can we stuff huntable animal species?
Only the species appearing on the decree of June 26, 1987 and on the decree of September 2, 2016 can be hunted.
It's about :
Sedentary game (pheasant, partridge, badger, hare, wild boar, etc.).
Waterfowl (duck, goose, moorhen…).
Birds of passage (woodcock, lark, blackbird…).
6 non-native species (Canada goose, raccoon dog, nutria, muskrat, raccoon, American mink).
Huntable species can be stuffed
.
To note
The aim of the hunting plan is to set annual or multi-annual quotas for authorized harvesting for the hunting season.
To allow the control of the execution of the latter, each slaughtered animal is provided with a marking device.
Any animal intended for naturalization must be accompanied by the marking device or the certificate until the completion of naturalization
(
article R425-11 of the Environmental Code
)
.
Are there exceptions to the ban on stuffing animals?
The prefect or the minister concerned may issue derogations from the aforementioned ban on stuffing a protected species, provided that there are no other satisfactory solutions and that the derogation does not harm the maintenance in a state of conservation. favourable, of the populations of the species concerned in their natural range
(
article L. 411-2 of the Environmental Code
).
Naturalizations with authorization for purposes of research and education of protected species are also possible.
For example, upon request, a Natural History Museum can obtain the right to stuff an animal.
The request for derogation for the naturalization or the exhibition of specimens of dead animals of protected species is made by completing Form 11628*02.
Stuffing a prohibited animal, what do you risk?
Contravening a ban on stuffing an animal constitutes an
offense
punishable by 3 years' imprisonment and a fine of 150,000 euros
(
article L415-3 of the Environmental Code
)
.
