Hunters want to stop paying for wild boars

It's a classic negotiation technique: formulate a dozen demands, ideally unreasonable, in the hope of obtaining one or two, a little less crazy than the others. Claim the arm to win the hand. The National Federation of Hunters (FNC) has thus drafted eleven requests in a "Manifesto for Hunting" and called on its followers to present it to all mayors in France this Saturday, May 17. A national mobilization to "denounce the multiple unjustified attacks" from "technocrats who follow the norm and are disconnected from reality, the anti-everything crowd, and the dogmatic ecologists." Eleven demands, some aimed at dismantling the legislation that has gradually come to define the boundaries of their activity, such as "the reinstatement of lead in hunting ammunition" or simply "the removal of all European moratoriums." Others oppose even the slightest further loss of freedom, with the maintenance of "all huntable species," "trapping and digging out," and the "freedom to continue hunting" on weekends and holidays. And while we're at it, they demand recognition of French hunting as "of general interest" and the inclusion of all its forms in UNESCO's intangible heritage.

Although it ranks first on the list, this wish is unlikely to be granted. But it makes a nice diversion to slip, just below, what could well be the main one.