The government has extended for one year a ban on hunting the ptarmigan, a migratory bird whose population has collapsed in Europe and which was first protected by the State Council in 2020, according to a decree published on Thursday. “Until July 30, 2023, the hunting of partridge (Streptopelia turtur) is suspended in the entire metropolitan area., stated in the order of the Ministry of Ecological Transition published in the Official Gazette. This is the third hunting campaign in a row for which harvesting of this species is prohibited.
A species in decline
For the 2020 hunting season, the government had allowed 17,460 wood pigeons to be shot. But the State Council, seized by several associations, including the League for the Protection of Birds (LPO), suspended the government’s decision in September 2020. The following summer, the government then passed the first decision to stop this hunt, which has now been stopped. extended. “We’re obviously pleased that the guns are up.”responded to AFP Yves Verdilhak, director general of the LPO, “But we should at least extend this ban for 5 years and even remove the grouse from the list of species intended for hunting.”. The Tria pigeon, a migratory bird whose population has declined by 80% in Europe in the last 40 years, is the subject of adaptive species management measures in France.
The number of animals that can be killed is determined after a scientific review of the conservation status of each species. In 2019, the Scientific Committee recommended no more quail or, at worst, killing 1.3% of the estimated numbers in France, or 18,300 birds at the time. For another species in decline, the Council of State in June forced the government to suspend hunting of Europe’s largest wild land bird, the Capercaillie, also called the Heather Rooster. The High Administrative Court, which multiplies these types of decisions, justifies them under the name of the state’s obligations related to the protection of biodiversity and the preservation of wild species.
Source: Le Figaro
