France tightens hunting regulations but stops short of weekend ban

The French government has announced stricter rules against hunting under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and extended protection for walkers and local residents, but stopped short of a hoped-for Sunday ban.

(FILES) This file photo taken on November 5, 2022 shows hunters observing the surrounding area during a deer hunt, in Jurvielle, in the Pyrenees mountains. AFP - LIONEL BONAVENTURE

Junior Environment Minister Bérangère Couillard said hunting under the influence of drugs or alcohol would be banned, training and safety rules for hunters strengthened and digital systems developed to warn other countryside users away from active hunting zones.

Penalties will also be increased, with hunters losing their licences if they are involved in a serious accident.

"My goal is zero accidents," Couillard said on a Monday trip to the Loiret department south of Paris.

"We want to see better safety, seven days a week," she added.

Statistics show hunting accidents have been on the decline in France over the past 20 years.

Some 90 accidents were recorded during the 2021-22 hunting season, eight of them fatal, according to the OFB biodiversity authority, which manages the sport.

Almost 80 percent of the French public would be in favour of a hunting ban on Sundays, polling firm IFOP found in December.

Hunters carry a dead boar as they take part in a hunt of animals that cause damage to cultures, in Hirsingue, eastern France on November 8, 2020. AFP - SEBASTIEN BOZON

Share access to nature

Sources within the executive told the French news agency AFP last week that "nothing in the statistics points to Sunday being a more accident-prone day than any other".

Willy Schraen, the head of the influential National Hunters' Federation (FNC), said last week he couldn't imagine hunting-free Sundays "for a single second".

He has claimed there would be uproar in rural areas if there were a ban.

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"We have to share access to nature," the leader of the Greens parliamentary party, Marine Tondelier, retorted on Sunday. "This shouldn't just be discussed between Emmanuel Macron and Willy Schraen".

The FNC is in favour of the criminalisation of hunting under the influence, similar to that in force for drivers.

There are 1.1 million active hunters in France, according to the FNC, and some five million people possess a hunting licence.