An investigation was opened, two days after the discovery of
“more than ten”
fox corpses in a mass grave in the Jura, we learned on Tuesday from the Besançon public prosecutor's office and the Jura prefecture.
The first elements of information obtained by the departmental directorate of the Jura territories indicate that a wolf watcher (person responsible for the slaughter of harmful wild animals), commissioned for these samples within the framework of a municipal decree, “
would have slaughtered these animals and left them there
,” according to the Jura prefecture.
“More than ten corpses of foxes were found, some were killed by bullets
,” confirmed to AFP the public prosecutor of Besançon, Étienne Manteaux.
Journalist Hugo Clément denounced
“a gratuitous massacre”
on the social network X (formerly Twitter) .
The regional environment prosecutor's office
"opened an investigation into the hunting conditions of these animals and into the offense observed following the deposit of these animals on the banks of a wild river, the Lemme"
, indicated the magistrate.
The investigation was entrusted to agents of the French Biodiversity Office (OFB), he said.
Corpses pollute the water of the Lemme
The mass grave was located on the communal bench of Fort-du-Plasne, according to the Jura prefecture, which explained that
“a municipal decree authorizing the taking of foxes (species likely to cause damage) was issued on January 9 2024 by the municipality”
for a period of three months, after in particular
“repeated attacks on chicken coops”
.
The prefect of Jura requested the evacuation of the corpses and their treatment by a specialized sector, and administratively ordered the protective withdrawal of the approval of the wolf scout concerned.
The Athénas Center, a nature protection center specializing in particular in saving the lynx, denounced on its Facebook page a
“scandalous mass grave of foxes “with their feet in the water”.
Dozens of foxes slaughtered in an almost industrial manner pollute the Lemme”
, and announced that they had filed a complaint.
“Water pollution is obvious with such a concentration of decomposing corpses
,” also noted in a press release the association SOS Loue et Rivières Comtoises, which also filed a complaint.