The French Ministry of Ecological Transition has recently added two bird species to the list of protected birds in mainland France: the grand tetra and the alpine ptarmigan. These birds now benefit from legal protection, which means they cannot be hunted or disturbed in ways that threaten their survival. The alpine ptarmigan, also known as the "snow partridge," is a high-altitude bird that lives in snow-covered rocky areas of the mountains. It has seen its habitat shrink significantly due to climate change, disappearing from 33% of the communes in the French Alps where it was once common in the 1950s. The alpine ptarmigan survives in mountainous regions up to 3,000 meters in altitude. Its population has been declining in both the Alps and the Pyrenees, but the recent protection status offers a chance for recovery. However, this decision has not been welcomed by the National Federation of Hunters (FNC), which criticized the move as "out of context and out of place." The reclassification also removes the two species from the list of game birds, meaning they can no longer be legally hunted. The decision to protect these birds was announced by Minister of Ecological Transition Monique Barbut in the spring. It followed a directive from the Council of State, which ordered the government to suspend hunting of the alpine ptarmigan for five years due to its poor conservation status. A similar ban has been in place for the grand tetra since 2022. Cédric Marteau, director of the League for the Protection of Birds (LPO), praised the move as a significant step forward for environmental protection in France. The alpine ptarmigan is classified as "nearly threatened" with extinction in France. It is a rare species that has survived since the end of the last ice age, about 10,000 years ago. Climate models predict that its range in the French Alps will shrink by 36% between 2041 and 2070, with the species gradually disappearing from the Pre-Alps and Southern Alps. Warmer temperatures are making it increasingly difficult for the ptarmigan to survive, especially during the summer months when temperatures in the mountains are rising. Charlotte Perrot, a biodiversity expert at the French Office for Biodiversity, notes that the species is "trapped" in its habitat, either adapting or facing extinction. In addition to climate change, the alpine ptarmigan is also affected by human activities such as tourism and livestock farming. Monitoring data shows the bird has disappeared from 33% of the communes in the Alps where it was present sixty years ago, and from 21% in the Pyrenees. Despite these declines, hunting of the alpine ptarmigan was still allowed in some areas until recently. Environmental groups have long fought to stop this practice through legal means, with some courts ruling in their favor. Now, the protection of the alpine ptarmigan will lead to more careful planning of development projects and the creation of action plans to save remaining populations. Experimental "quiet zones" are being tested in areas like the Queyras, Écrins, and Mercantour mountain ranges, which have shown promising results due to increased public awareness and conservation efforts.