Biology subjects

Chapron, G.

Publications and source records attributed to Chapron, G..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2022

Patterns of litigation in France during two decades of recovery of a large carnivore

The recovery of large carnivores in Europes human dominated landscapes is an unexpected conservation success. In France, where the wolf disappeared in 1937, the species population is now approaching one thousand individuals after the species naturally returned in the country in 1992 from Italy. Large carnivores in Europe are protected by several legal instruments, ranging from international law, to European, national or regional laws (in federal countries). There has been a limited attention allocated to how this legal protection is in practice activated in Member States of the European Union. In particular, there is little research on the role of public interest environmental litigation for large carnivore conservation. We take the example of the wolf (Canis lupus) in France and describe wolf-related litigation in the country during two decades. We compiled a database of case law decisions (i.e. court rulings) relating to administrative litigation about the protection of the wolf and collected a total of 275 court rulings. We found that wolf litigation occurred unsurprisingly more often in administrative courts located in regions where wolves first returned (i.e. South-East of France). Animal welfare or protection associations were the most active and successful plaintiffs. The State administration represented by its Prefets was also a plaintiff in lawsuits against illegal culling decisions made by mayors. The Prefet des Alpes Maritimes and the Minister of the Environment were regular defendants for decisions to cull wolves that were litigated by nature protection associations. Nature protection associations overall had a case winning rate higher than 50%. There were no immediately obvious inter-annual trends in wolf litigation. Our database did not allow us to quantify the total number of wolves that were effectively protected from culling decisions because court rulings made after the execution of administrative decisions did not specify whether the animals were killed or not. Bet it as it may, nature protection associations appear to conduct legally relevant litigation in view of the high success rate they achieve and conservation lawsuits belong to the portfolio of available conservation instruments.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2020

Illegal hunting threatens the establishment of a lynx population and highlights the need of a centralized judiciary approach

O_LIIllegal hunting (poaching) represents a major threat to the conservation of large predators. Yet, its impact remains difficult to quantify as there are strong incentives to conceal this criminal activity. Attributing changes in the population status of large carnivores in part to poaching is therefore an important conservation challenge. C_LIO_LIWe present a case study of lynx (Lynx lynx) in southwestern Switzerland (canton of Valais) where the current distribution range is much smaller than it was in the recent past and population density is now >80% lower than in other lynx populations in the Swiss Alps, particularly in the adjacent Pre-Alps. We tested four hypotheses to explain this far lower density: 1) a too low density of trail camera-traps deployed for lynx surveys in Valais compared to the Pre-Alps (i.e. a methodological artefact); 2) less favourable environmental conditions around the camera-trap sites; 3) lower densities of the main prey; and 4) poaching. C_LIO_LIWe estimated lynx and ungulate densities and environmental conditions at trail camera sites, and were able to clearly reject the first three hypotheses: 1) the monitoring protocol was similarly effective; 2) environmental conditions around the trapping sites in Valais were even more favourable to lynx detection than in the Pre-Alps; and 3) prey supply was even larger. Concerning hypothesis 4, we discovered a local, but dense network of 17 illegal lynx traps in the narrow main immigration corridor into Valais from the thriving adjacent lynx population in the Pre-Alps, suggesting intense local poaching. C_LIO_LIOur findings substantiate the suspicions of long-lasting lynx poaching as a threat to the establishment and survival of the Valais population. The fact that instances of poaching were publicly known since 1995 but remained unabated for at least two decades, until a first conviction occurred, questions the commitment of local authorities to address this case of wildlife crime. Our study shows that inquiries about wildlife crime such as top predator poaching may need to be carried out at the highest levels of jurisdiction to avoid any risk of collusion between law enforcement agents and poachers. C_LI

ecology↗