Wildfires and hunting: France debates delaying the season

The debate over opening the hunting season after wildfires has reached France. According to reports by Chasse Passion and, previously, La Dépêche du Midi, the animal rights organisation FUTUR is calling for hunting to be postponed for several months across the country, arguing that the fires and heatwave have placed additional pressure on wildlife.

The reports do not indicate that the proposal is accompanied by a population study, a list of the departments affected or a published administrative request. In response, Willy Schraen, president of the French National Hunters’ Federation, rejects an indiscriminate nationwide measure and maintains that decisions should be made on the ground, together with the prefectures. He also acknowledges that opening dates could be delayed or hunting for certain species restricted wherever necessary.

French law already allows hunting to be suspended

The legal framework supports the adoption of local measures. Article R424-3 of the French Environmental Code allows a prefect to suspend hunting throughout or in part of a department when a wildfire or other disaster could cause or contribute to the destruction of game resources. The suspension may apply to all species or only some of them, lasts for a maximum of ten days and may be renewed.

Article R424-1 also empowers the prefecture to prohibit the hunting of one or more species in order to rebuild their populations, restrict hunting days or set permitted hours. The legislation therefore provides both for an immediate response to a wildfire and for adjustments incorporated into annual regulations.

Neither an automatic ban nor an opening detached from local conditions

A wildfire does not affect every species or the entire area of a department equally. A useful assessment should define the burnt area and its surroundings, establish whether shelter, water and food remain available, and determine whether animals have stayed in the area or moved elsewhere. It should also distinguish between small- and big-game management, review available population counts and assess potential agricultural or forestry damage before quotas are changed.

The French Biodiversity Agency notes that wildfires affect natural areas and may have environmental consequences, and advocates integrating wildfire monitoring into subsequent management. The agency also explains that French hunting regulations allow prefects to adapt species, seasons and quotas locally, using data supplied by hunters and cross-checked with other local stakeholders.

This approach requires more than impressions. Assessments of population status should be based on documented observations shared by federations, technical specialists, forest managers, farmers and conservation organisations. Without such a diagnosis, both a general postponement across France and an unchanged opening in a severely damaged area risk overlooking relevant differences.

Concrete decisions have yet to emerge

The reports reviewed focus particularly on the Aude department, but they do not identify any prefectural order changing its calendar or specify which fires, areas or species would justify restrictions. Nor do they cite a formal nationwide proposal submitted to the French Government.

For now, the debate pits a request from one interested party against the federation’s response. The actual decision rests with the competent authorities and will need to be verified in the orders issued by each prefecture. The underlying question is not simply whether to open or close the season, but which wildlife, habitat and safety data support a proportionate measure in each affected area.