Several associations have filed an appeal to ban the hunting of this small mountain rodent, which the Grenoble administrative court is due to examine on Thursday October 19.
The marmot, a true emblem of the mountain pastures, is still hunted in France. Administrative justice will rule on the legality of this practice on Thursday, October 19 in the afternoon. The prefect of Savoie signed a decree last September authorizing marmot hunting, which is urgently contested before the Grenoble administrative court by six associations.
>> “Marmot stew does not deserve to be killed”: associations are calling for a ban on this traditional hunt
The president of the Savoie Hunting Federation, Régis Clapier, for his part defends marmot hunting, which he describes as a useful and cultural institution. “It’s a great hunt because it’s an animal that outwits man. You have to approach it, you have to succeed in attracting it. And then, when you kill a marmot, you share it with friends at the bottom of the chalet, it’s wonderful”, he assures.
No official count
The associations organized rallies, wrote a petition and a forum, and took the matter to court to try to put an end to this hunt which they consider archaic. “Today, we no longer use the marmot, neither to eat it, nor for its fat, nor for its fur.”explains the president of Justice Animaux Savoie, Pauline Di Nicolantonio.
“This is a hunt that is prohibited on the other side of the Alps, in Italy. On the one hand, we therefore prohibit this hunting and on the other, nearly 1,000 marmots are hunted each year.”
Pauline Di Nicolantonio, president of Justice Animaux Savoieat franceinfo
The marmot is however protected by the Berne Convention, which imposes a good state of populations. But there is no scientific vision, due to lack of counting, regrets Marc Peronnard of France Nature Environnement. “We want to know what the populations are exactly, and we don’t want to shoot blindly at populations as long as we don’t know the reproductive dynamics”he asks. Associations consider that marmots are in decline, while hunters believe that there are them in more and more municipalities. It will be up to the courts to decide.