Who gave the order to kill a wild boar seen walking on a Cannes beach on Tuesday? The killing of the animal, denounced by the association One Voice, has given rise to discordant versions for a few days between the town hall and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes. The first claims to have “never given” a “slaughter instruction” while, according to the second, “the municipal police of Cannes requested the assistance of the departmental association of wolf cubs” to “manage the situation”.
In a press release issued to “remind” the “applicable regulations”, the state services explain that the wild boar is “classified as a harmful species”, in particular because of “the security problems it can cause in urban areas”. . They also indicate that in this respect a mayor can “use his general police power to seize a wolf-watching lieutenant responsible for appraising the situation”.
The town hall would have preferred “a trapping system”
And the latter will be able, further supports the prefecture, “euthanize the animal if necessary”. It is therefore he who would have taken the decision to “neutralize” the ungulate. However, it is precisely this point that the municipality denounces. In a response sent to 20 minutesshe claims to have “learned about the slaughter of the boar through social networks” and “regrets [qu’il] there has not been more reflection and consultation before implementing this radical solution”. “The municipality would obviously have preferred a trapping or other system to evacuate the wild boar,” she says.
A video posted on Twitter shows the lieutenant of wolf hunting shooting at the animal, curled up against a low wall. The scene takes place Tuesday evening, at night, and is lit by the flashlight of a national policeman, also present on the scene.
For One Voice, this boar “shot at point-blank range” could indeed “be captured and released into the wild”. “Refugee on a deserted beach, the frightened animal presented no imminent danger”, according to the association which denounces a “decision revealing the ineptitude of the methods employed by the authorities”. On Twitter, with a hashtag, she calls for an end to the “massacre of wild animals”.