An investigation was opened on Sunday January 23 following the remarks of a farmer calling to “kill and make disappear” the wolves, announced the Secretary of State in charge of biodiversity, Bérangère Abba.
The remarks were made by Florian Tournadre, farmer and president of the Rural Coordination of Creuse, at the microphone of France 3 Limousin.
The latter invited the farmers “to take their shotgun” to eliminate the wolves.
“A farmer works to feed human beings, he does not work to feed a predator,” he insisted. The wolf, “you have to kill it, make it disappear and say nothing, that will be the best solution.”
“Killing a protected species is illegal”
On Twitter, Bérangère Abba revolted against the words of Florian Tournadre, recalling that “killing or calling to kill a protected species is illegal and constitutes an offense”.
Beyond the surreal image of a union representative advocating the use of weapons and the concealment of evidence to overcome the rule of law, killing or calling to kill a protected species is illegal and constitutes an offence. An investigation is open https://t.co/qp4cAk1YOH
— Berangere Abba (@b_abba) January 23, 2022
The Minister for the Ecological Transition, Barbara Pompili, for her part, specified that the services of her ministry had taken up the file.
Last winter, the French Office for Biodiversity estimated the wolf population in France at 624 individuals.
The animal has been considered a protected species since the signing of the Bern Convention in 1989 and classified as a “vulnerable species” in France.