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4 - Hunting seasons in relation to biological breeding seasons and the implications for the control or regulation of ungulate populations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2011

By
Marco Apollonio ,
Rory Putman ,
Stefano Grignolio  and
Luděk Bartoš
Edited by
Rory Putman ,
Marco Apollonio  and
Reidar Andersen
Marco Apollonio
Affiliation:
University of Sassari
Rory Putman
Affiliation:
Manchester Metropolitan University
Stefano Grignolio
Affiliation:
University of Sassari
Luděk Bartoš
Affiliation:
Research Institute for Animal Production
Rory Putman
Affiliation:
Manchester Metropolitan University
Marco Apollonio
Affiliation:
Università degli Studi di Sassari, Sardinia
Reidar Andersen
Affiliation:
Museum of Natural History and Archaeology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim
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Summary

Introduction

Almost all European countries operate with a principle of restricted hunting periods for some or all species (with the exception of Portugal, where technically the season lasts from 1 June in any year to 31 May of the following year, although most hunting activity is carried out between September and February). There is, however, an enormous diversity in length (and actual time of year) of the permitted season in different countries (even in adjacent countries: e.g. seasons in the three adjacent countries of the Baltics: Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia) and seasons also vary – often quite markedly – between different regions or provinces of one country (e.g. Italy, Austria, Germany).

It is further apparent that such seasons may also show little relation to actual biological breeding seasons (rut, parturition, period of dependency of young) and such mismatch between hunting and biological seasons may have serious consequences. This chapter explores the wide variation in hunting season in different European countries and the implications of the mismatch with biological seasons for welfare, social dynamics – and the ability (or failure) of hunters to regulate ungulate populations.

There are at least three critical times of year in relation to breeding seasons of ungulates:

  • the period of the rut (i.e. period between the first and the last copulation in the observed population)

  • pre-parturition (i.e. period between late development of embryos and parturition; we take this period as that period between the time when the foetus may reach half of the birth weight and actual birth)

  • the period following parturition when young animals may be nutritionally or socially dependent on the mother.

Type
Chapter
Information
Ungulate Management in Europe
Problems and Practices
 , pp. 80 - 105
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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