2023-09-05 20:45:00
This Sunday is the opening of the hunt in the Alpes-Maritimes. The graduates of the federation of the department will be able to resume their activity from 7 am. The leisure of some 6,800 Côte d’Azur residents who hold hunting licenses is singled out. Accidents, pollution, animal abuse… The president of the departmental federation of hunters in the Alpes-Maritimes, Jean-Pierre Caujolle, defends this passion and “try to change the image of hunters”.
Are there any changes to note for the upcoming season?
We are going to equip hunting companies with pits to recover animal offal and we are going to carry out campaigns to collect cartridges and garbage on the roads. These are projects subsidized by the Region. We are also going to put watchtowers back in the suburban area to reduce stray bullets and ricochets as much as possible.
Between the risk of fires and suffering wildlife, will the drought of recent months have an impact on hunting?
For the moment all the lights are green. It’s very hot and paradoxically there are plenty of storms, so water is coming. The drought came late. All babies are born. They were able to feed normally during the first three critical months. The reproduction will be good, so no worries on this side. Now we have to become even more efficient. We are, in a way, wildlife gardeners. If there are fewer animals, you have to adapt, take fewer.
The government’s hunting plan provided for the implementation of a digital application to secure walkers and a ticket for hunters under the influence of alcohol for this season. It’s not ready yet. Is it a relief or a regret?
For alcohol, normally an order is ready or almost ready. As for the application intended to geolocate hunters (1), it is useless because if it is an individual hunter, there is no problem. These are the beats that it would be interesting to geolocate, but depending on the case, it seems very difficult to do technically.
Does the hunt still attract?
For the past 4-5 years, the number of permits has picked up once more. There are even delays of 6-7 months to pass the permit. We know a slight decrease of 1% of licensees per year but which should be absorbed. The problem we encounter is access to hunting grounds. Nearly 50% of people who pass the permit have no connection with the rural world. They are city dwellers who must be accepted into hunting societies. Some licensees remain on the floor. It is particularly complicated in mountain areas. We try to convince them to be nicer.
Part of public opinion took a dislike to the hunt. Do you understand this opposition?
The problem is the fundamentalists. The majority of people I meet in nature are nature lovers and they know the role of hunters. Seems like everyone hates hunters. But when I speak with the Olympic committee, the hiking and horse-riding federations, they don’t lynch me. That there are people who bother to kill an animal I understand.
What does this “new hunter” look like?
We have more and more people completely outside the countryside who come, attracted by the conviviality. All new hunters are security trained. They are educated in the direction of the management of nature, of wildlife. We have a majority of people who know that we have to pay attention to the number of samples. We feel that there is a change in the mentality. We focus on “you have to know how to share nature”.
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