Bird enthusiasts attempting to remove illegal poaching traps in a French village have been met with fury by a local farmer, armed with a shovel and wearing nothing but a blue T-shirt and underwear.

Members of the League for the Protection of Birds (LPO) had taken several journalists on an operation to stop the poaching of finches, a protected species, in the village of Audon, south-west France.

Taking a dig: the farmer flings his shovel at a league member. Photograph: Gaizka Iroz/AFP/Getty Images

As the activists set about removing traps from a cornfield, a furious farmer came flying out of a nearby property – neglecting to put on trousers in his haste.

He did, however, have time to grab a large shovel, which he swung in the direction of the activists and journalists, as Agence France-Presse reported. Among those targeted was the league’s president, Allain Bougrain-Dubourg, a well-known journalist and animal activist.

Allain Bougrain-Dubourg (centre), the LPO’s president, is led away from his pants-wearing attacker. Photograph: Gaizka Iroz/AFP/Getty Images

Reporters at the scene said they were then set upon by a second, fully clothed assailant, who appeared to be holding a hoe.

Both men attempted to snatch camera equipment, and slashed the car tyres of their unwelcome visitors, Liberation reported.

Police were called to the scene after the 15-minute altercation. French media reported that the league intends to sue the farmer for assault, damage to property and the use of prohibited traps. The farmers indicated they will sue the LPO for trespassing.