-
France urges flu vaccination after 17,000 deaths last winter
Last year’s season was particularly severe due to ‘low vaccination coverage’, experts say
-
Air traffic controller defends colleagues over near-fatal air crash at Nice
He blames airport lighting issues and claims ‘staff are deeply affected’ over the incident
-
Dordogne runs anti-mosquito operation after chikungunya outbreak
The campaign is ‘preventative’, with affected residents asked to stay indoors and bring in pets and washing
France issues hunt ‘pardon’ for escaped wild animals
Wild animals in France that end up running into inhabited or built-up areas due to wild hunting will now be “pardoned” and allowed to go free, according to a new government decree.

The new law was published on March 1, in the most recent Journal Officiel.
It comes after controversy in late 2017, in the Oise (Hauts-de-France), in which a trapped stag was killed by wild hunters after it had escaped into a private garden.
This prompted national hunting group La Fédération Nationale des Chasseurs de France to address its practices, especially as several NGOs called for more rules on hunting in inhabited or built-up areas.
The new decree, which is likely to apply mainly to wild boar and stag, reads: “When the animal is desperate, or fenced in, and is located near houses adjacent to private gardens, to commercial or artisanal areas, offices, or establishments open to the public, [the animal] is to be ‘pardoned’”.
In practice, this will mean that the head of the hunting group will have a responsibility to “ensure that the animal is not approached”, and must enable it to escape far from the inhabited area.
If this is not possible, the decree continues, the group must contact the authorities and a veterinarian.
The latter may, if necessary, tranquilise the animal to allow it to be moved back to safety, “at the cost of the hunting group” or - in the worst case scenario - “begin the process of putting the animal to sleep”.
Stay informed:
Sign up to our free weekly e-newsletter
Subscribe to access all our online articles and receive our printed monthly newspaper The Connexion at your home. News analysis, features and practical help for English-speakers in France