The accidental killing of a hiker by a teenager who was hunting wild boar has rekindled a bitter debate over stricter regulations of France’s hunting tradition before the presidential election in April, reports The Guardian.
The 25-year-old woman was walking with a friend along a marked trail near Aurillac in the heavily forested Cantal region when she was hit by a stray bullet on Saturday. She died instantly.
The 17-year-old girl who pulled the trigger was part of an organised hunt in the forest and had received her hunting licence when she was 16. She was treated in hospital for shock and was still being questioned by police on Monday morning. Tests revealed no trace of drugs or alcohol in her body.
The killing has sparked a row over hunting accidents in France and whether tough new rules should be imposed limiting hunting to certain days or weekends. France is the country with the largest number of hunters in Europe. It is the only country that allows hunting every day during the hunting season – unlike other countries that have put in place non-hunting days, allowing more security for hikers.
“We urgently need more regulation of this activity,” said Yannick Jadot, the Greens presidential candidate. He said an Ipsos poll had shown 61% of French people wanted hunting banned on weekends and in the school holidays.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who is leading in the polls among leftwing candidates, said this “abominable catastrophe must make us stop to think”. He called for a ban on weekends and school holidays “because that’s when there’s the biggest risk”. But he said he did not want to ban hunting completely as that would cause chaos in France.