French Council of State Orders Five-Year Suspension of Ptarmigan Hunting

On March 2, 2026, the French Council of State mandated the government to suspend ptarmigan hunting for five years across metropolitan France. This landmark decision was made in response to the severe population decline of the ptarmigan, also known as the snow partridge, and concerns over conservation efforts.

The Council emphasized that hunting activities are incompatible with protecting the species, whose numbers have drastically fallen over the past two decades. Scientific data highlighted a significant loss of ptarmigan populations, with the species disappearing from 33% of Alpine municipalities and 21% of those in the Pyrenees since 1950.

Ptarmigans currently inhabit isolated groups primarily in the Alps and Pyrenees. Environmental organizations such as the League for the Protection of Birds (LPO), One Voice, and the Ariège Ecological Committee had petitioned for governmental intervention after repeated unsuccessful requests to halt hunting decrees in three departments.

The ruling requires the Minister of Ecological Transition to issue an order to halt hunting within two months of notification. Conservation advocates like Allain Bougrain-Dubourg, president of the LPO, hailed the decision as a significant reprieve for the species and called for similar moratoriums on other threatened animals still hunted in France.

This legal action represents a critical step in preserving a vulnerable species facing extinction risks in French mountainous regions.