Can we spare a puma in the wild?
This is what is claimed by a petition created on Saturday by an animal advocate, who has already rallied more than 6,500 signatories.
Its text calls for treating a large feline, seen on October 13 in freedom, with "justice and respect".
The animal, which is said to be a puma, has been tracked for four days without success for the moment.
On Wednesday, he had been spotted in the towns of Frévent and Auxi-le-Château (Pas-de-Calais).
These unsuccessful searches prompted the Pas-de-Calais prefecture to authorize “sampling shots” in the Arras district.
This decision could cost the life of the animal, whose presence there remains unexplained for the moment.
“However, at the present time, no attack, whether on human beings or on an animal, has been deplored, writes the author of the forum.
At present, the prefect has therefore authorized the killing of a “dangerous” beast that has not caused any disturbance to the ecosystem.
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A threatened species
The cougar is on the red list of endangered species in the United States. "If [this puma] is put to death despite the fact that there has been no attack, the prefect will have to report to animal protection associations," he is still in the gallery. Other calls to spare the animal have been published on networks, including that of the animal rights association FreeLife.
Contacted by our colleagues from Franceinfo, the prefecture explains that it favors the security issue and considers that this is the only possible decision.
“In reality, it's impossible to put this animal to sleep.
According to the veterinarian, it is necessary to be able to accommodate a hypodermic syringe, that implies a shot at 20 meters maximum from the animal, explains the prefecture.
Nobody knows how to do that on a beast whose temperament we don't know, and obviously that doesn't seem reasonable to us ”
