Turtle pigeons are allowed to be shot again for sport throughout Europe as the EU lifts a hunting ban called the interim recovery of species.
The EU is able to shoot 132,000 birds in Spain, France and Italy after the threatened bird population boom in Western Europe due to the hunting ban in 2021.
The gentle pigeon species that combine with their partners for a living are on the verge of extinction in the UK. Globally, birds are classified as vulnerable to extinction due to hunting and habitat loss.
Every year, they fly from sub-Saharan Africa across the continent of Europe, breeding in the UK and other northern European countries in the summer, and in some countries such as Spain and Italy, people shoot for sports during their migration.
However, there was something notable following the temporary ban on the annual filming of migratory birds passing through France, Spain and Portugal three years ago. Increased by 25% Western European population of birds, including 2,000 individuals in the UK.
According to Birdlife International Charity, data shows that hunting bans have been successful in increasing populations. On the western flyways of Spain, France, Portugal and northwest Italy, pigeons began to recover. However, no recovery has been observed in the Central Eastern Flyways of Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Malta, Romania and Cyprus, as hunting bans are not properly enforced.
“Turtle Dub did its part. He left alone and began to recover. But the government failed to maintain the end of the deal,” said Barbara Herero, senior conservation policy officer at BirdLife Europe.
European hunters say the turtle dove numbers have been rewarded for their efforts, claiming they have a strong cultural and economic attachment to hunting them.
Masimo Buconi, president of the Italian Hunting Federation, said Turtle Dubus has been traditionally used to open up the Veneto hunting season, describing it as “an important day celebrated like the first day of the football season.”
“Of course we eat pigeons,” he added. “Hunting in Italy is always closely linked to the kitchen.”
In Spain, where the “maximum harvest” of turtle doves under the new recommendations, birds are classified as a game because they hunt sustainably and serve social, traditional, economic, culinary or cultural purposes, said Alejandro Martinez of the royal Spanish Hunting Federation.
“Hunting in Spain will generate €6.5 billion and 200,000 jobs,” he said. “This serves as a driving force behind rural development thanks to the use of species like turtle pigeons.”
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Minutes from a meeting held by the committee, where officials decided to allow hunting, show that EU leaders believe the conditions were met to allow sustainable shooting of pigeons.
They say the conditions for resuming hunting are at least two years of population growth, increased survival rates, and the existence of a reliable system of regulation, management and enforcement. They allow 1.5% of the turtle pigeon population to be killed because they believe these conditions are met.
The minutes stated, “There was a consensus to resume hunting at a 1.5% quota on Western Flyway, except in Estonia and Birdlife. Meanwhile, the response of the hunting population of bird populations needs to be closely monitored in the following year.”
