The broadcast of the unbearable images attracted the attention of the authorities.
The prefecture of Jura announced that it had suspended the approval of a wolf scout, two days after the discovery of around twenty corpses of foxes on the banks of a river in Fort-du-Plasne, in Jura, reports France 3.
This Sunday, a fisherman who was walking in the river bed to check the water level discovered a real mass grave, and recorded a video with his cell phone.
“I smelled like a corpse.
I walk near the river and there I see a dead fox, then another, then another, until I come across the big pile of foxes,” he explains to our colleagues from France Bleu.
The video was published Monday by the SOS Loue Rivière Comtoises collective.
Numerous fox corpses can be seen at the water's edge, over several dozen meters.
Some are emaciated, others decomposing and rotting.
According to the association, some carrion bears bullet marks.
The collective also mentions the presence of bones.
The fox is not a protected species, and it can be killed during the hunting season, from June 1 to the end of February.
But the discovery of this mass grave raises several questions, including that of the perpetrator but also the health question, with decomposing bodies near the river.
Under the authority of the Besançon prosecutor, an investigation was therefore opened by the regional environmental prosecutor's office, and entrusted to the services of the French Biodiversity Office.
This Tuesday, the Jura prefecture indicated that the prefect had requested “the protective withdrawal of the approval” of a wolf scout.
Approval from the prefecture
According to the prefecture, “a municipal decree authorizing the collection of foxes (species likely to cause damage) was issued on January 9, 2024 by the municipality of Fort-du-Plasne, for a period of 3 months, with regard to notably repeated attacks on henhouses.”
The wolf scout in question had therefore been commissioned by the prefecture to take these samples.
The press release finally specifies that "without prejudging the conclusions of the legal procedure and in agreement with the OFB services in charge of the investigation", the suspension of the approval of the missioned wolf scout was administratively ordered.
The investigation will have to shed light on this matter.