In March 2023, LPO France was alerted to the likely death of a red kite equipped with a transmitter as part of the LIFE EUROKITE project in the south of the country, in the Ariège department. Our colleagues near the area were quickly mobilized, along with environmental police officers, and the carcass was rapidly located thanks to the GPS coordinates transmitted by the tag. The bird was found holding a small spoon in one of its claws and pieces of meat covered in small black granules in the other. A dead Eurasian goshawk and a wood pigeon (used as bait) were also found nearby. Toxicological analyses unsurprisingly confirmed acute poisoning by Carbofuran (>1,000 µg/g in the red kite’s stomach).

With suspicions already targeting a nearby farm, a search was conducted. Several boxes of Carbofuran and other products (notably rodenticides) were found on site, and the owner eventually admitted to placing the poisoned baits around his farm, claiming his intent was to kill foxes and martens, which he considered threats to his chickens. LPO France and three other associations jointly filed a legal complaint.

The trial, which took place in May 2025, resulted in the perpetrator being sentenced to:

• A 5-month suspended prison sentence
• A 1-year suspension of his hunting license
• A 3-year ban on possessing a firearm
• A €250 fine

Additionally, he was ordered to pay:

• €800 to each of the four associations that joined the case as civil parties, in compensation for moral damage
• An additional €800 to LPO for ecological damage related to the destruction of the red kite (out of €7,050 requested)

Regarding this ecological damage— a relatively recent concept in French environmental law—LPO has been working for several months on developing a calculation method. This type of damage lies at the intersection of several complex concepts, such as the ecosystem services provided by the species, its cultural, heritage, and touristic value, and its rarity. The €7,050 figure was derived from this methodology. It is unfortunate that the court did not uphold this amount, but this may be due to the nature of the fast-track legal procedure used, which allows less time to review the evidence submitted by LPO.

Text source: LPO France