With 5,044 signatures, the petition against battues passed the necessary threshold and was thus brought to the Chamber of Deputies on Wednesday. In the petitioner’s view, flushing game is abuse as animals are chased by a pack of trained dogs until they reach the point of complete exhaustion. Battues also imperil the safety of forest walkers, further argued petition author Cyril Perrichon.
While supporters of these types of hunts see it as an effective way of reducing the number of wild animals in the forest, Perrichon expressed doubts: “Battue-style hunting is not an effective way of regulating animal populations. It can lead to unpredictable fluctuations in animal populations and cause further environmental damage. There are existing alternatives, such as selective hunting, habitat management, and animal contraception programmes.”
The petitioner also noted that forest rangers should regulate the population of wild animals.
After the session, MP Nancy Arendt from the Christian Social People’s Party (CSV), president of the Chamber’s petition commission, presented their conclusions to the petitioners.
One of the arguments put forward, which had already been addressed during the public debate, was that the hunting practices described by the petitioners are already prohibited to an extent and that they describe the practice of hunting to exhaustion rather than the battue as currently practiced.
The point concerning animal contraception was also criticised by Laurent Schley, a representative of the Nature and Forest Administration. He argued that the contraception of wild animals is still being studied and not yet applicable in practice.
It was thus concluded that battues remain necessary in the short and medium term. According to Environment Minister Joëlle Welfring, this is largely due to the poor state of many forests and their struggle to recover properly in the presence of large animal populations.
The subject was already debated in the Chamber in 2019 and certain improvements have been made since. Minister Welfring highlighted the new version of the hunting act, which focuses on protecting nature and biodiversity. She also pointed out that initial training courses for hunters have been overhauled to improve shooting safety.
