During confinement, hunters will be able to benefit from exemptions

GUILLAUME SOUVANT / AFP

CONTAINMENT – Hunters will be able to benefit from exemptions from containment to avoid the “proliferation” of wild boar or deer, responsible for significant damage to crops, the Secretary of State for Biodiversity said this Sunday, November 1.

“During this period of confinement, we must avoid an increase in the damage done to crops, forests and property by a proliferation of populations of large game such as wild boar or deer,” said Secretary of State Bérangère. Abba in a statement.

“It is only for this purpose and at the request of the administrative authority that hunting actions can take place in the coming weeks”, she added.

No hunting

Every year, hunters have to pay millions of euros in compensation to farmers for damage caused by wild boars. In this context, after the publication of the containment rules, discussions had been initiated between the authorities and the National Federation of Hunters (FNC), which highlights its public service mission linked to this regulation of large game.

These large game regulation actions will be decided at the local level by the prefects in conjunction with local actors to “define the harvesting objectives in each department,” said the Secretary of State. These samples can only be taken by hunts and target shooting, not by the hunting organization.

“I do not want us to say that hunters will deviate from anything and continue to hunt, that is not what we asked. But if we don’t go, how are we going to do it? ”FNC President Willy Schraen told AFP on Sunday.

Consultations to “specify sanitary conditions”

According to him, between a third and a quarter of large game samples are taken in France in November. “Normally, just for wild boars, we have to kill 500,000 before the end of the year. Can you imagine if we don’t go hunting! That’s 500,000 more wild boars on the territory, perhaps as many deer ”, liable to cause damage in the fields in spring, he insisted.

Discussions with the prefects could concern according to him “six or seven species likely to pose problems”: wild boar and roe deer, but also other deer, as well as rabbits, hares, pheasants or pigeons in certain departments.

The local consultations will also make it possible to “specify the sanitary conditions and barrier gestures to be respected during these exceptional hunting actions”, specified the Secretary of State.

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