Hobby hunter sentenced to 100’000 euros in damages

The hobby hunter who had shot the rare eagle on 24 February 2024 in La Salette was convicted at first instance of, among other things, paying 30’000 € in damages to the LPO (League for the Protection of Birds).

This amount was increased to 81’000 € on appeal on Wednesday, 21 May 2025. A “considerable victory” for the LPO and a “surprising decision” for Bernard Boulloud, the hobby hunter’s lawyer.

His 30-year-old half-brother, who was with him at the time of the offence, was acquitted of “aiding and abetting the destruction of a protected species” but was sentenced to two fines. The two brothers had removed four feathers from the bird. These were found during a search of his home. During questioning, he admitted to the facts.

On 24 February, these two men had already illegally killed two deer.

The young female bird came from a bird of prey park in Haute-Savoie and had been released into the wild only a few months earlier.

In civil proceedings, a court awarded 81’000 euros for the ecological damage and 3’000 euros for the moral damage suffered by the bird protection organisation (LPO). In addition, the man must pay 15’800 euros to the bird of prey park Les Aigles du Léman, to which the eagle belonged.

Furthermore, the perpetrator received a three-year weapons ban and was sentenced to the revocation of his hunting licence.

The organisation (LPO) recalled that the white-tailed eagle had been considered extinct in France since 1959. A reintroduction programme has only been under way since 2011. Today, there are only around seven breeding pairs and approximately 30 individual birds in France.

Its president Alain Bougrain-Dubourg spoke of a landmark decision: «A significant recognition of ecological damage in all its dimensions» and a «victory for science and the law.»

In total, the sum the hobby hunter must pay amounts to just under 100’000 euros. According to French media, his lawyer is considering an appeal to the Court of Cassation.