Hunting ban saves Turtle doves

31.07.2024

The number of turtle doves in Europe has been declining alarmingly for years. A hunting ban imposed by three EU countries is now showing success in a very short space of time. This could also have a signalling effect for other species.

In just two breeding seasons without hunting, the number of turtle doves in Western Europe has increased by 25 per cent.

Their affectionate relationship is proverbial, and Shakespeare immortalised them several times in poems and plays as a symbol of romantic love: the turtle dove (Streptopelia turtur). The reality is anything but an endless romance for this species. All over Europe, the birds are under threat, and the feathered love birds are disappearing from our landscapes at an alarming rate.

Like many other arable species, they suffer from intensive agriculture which causes a lack of insects and the destruction of their habitats along hedgerows and small woodlands. But above all, turtle dove are shot and eaten by the millions every year. In the ten EU countries where they are authorised to be hunted, more than 1.5 million turtle doves die in shotgun fire each year. A scientific study set up by the EU Commission came to the conclusion three years ago that the extent of legal hunting of turtle doves exceeded a ‘sustainable level’.

To prevent the population from collapsing completely and the species possibly even becoming extinct in Europe, the governments of France, Spain and Portugal issued temporary hunting bans. This emergency brake has now proven to be surprisingly successful, as an analysis shows. According to this, the measure halted the steep downward trend in Western Europe within just a few months.

In just two breeding seasons without hunting, the number of turtle doves rose again to 400,000 breeding pairs in 2023. This corresponds to an increase of 25 per cent and thus a level that was last reached 15 years ago.

Abstaining from hunting is crucial

The fact that the hunting ban is responsible for this spectacular conservation success and not more favourable climatic conditions must be duly noted. The authors of the analysis point out that adverse weather conditions in many regions actually reduced breeding success in the two years under review.

Furthermore, a comparison with the situation of the turtle dove population breeding further east shows how decisive hunting is for the survival of the species. Birds from the eastern population area - which also includes parts of Germany - do not migrate on the western flyway via France, Spain and Portugal to Africa, but via the central or eastern Mediterranean flyways, where they are targeted en masse by hunters in Italy, Malta, Cyprus or Lebanon.

While the number of western turtle doves increased by 25 per cent within two years, the numbers in the east continued to fall drastically without protection from hunting.

It has been shown that the turtle dove population can recover almost immediately, the researchers summarise. This proves that even temporary protection can give the birds the necessary time until longer-term measures take effect, such as re-naturalising the agricultural landscape.

"With these results, there is also no excuse to continue to legally hunt lapwings and skylarks in the EU" says Axel Hirschfeld, member of the Bonn Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS).

Traditionally, ecosystems and habitats that have been degraded and damaged by human action is cited as the most significant cause of the decline of many bird species - often in order to avoid conflicts with the strong hunting lobby in some countries.

‘The resounding success of the hunting ban on the turtle dove in such a short space of time shows that hunting is just as great a threat to many bird species’, says Axel Hirschfeld.

The biologist is a member of the Bonn based Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) and has been analysing the hunting statistics of EU countries for many years. He hopes that the example of the turtle dove will set a precedent and that a hunting ban will also be considered for other species.

After all, the turtle dove is not the only avian species for which a lot of money is spent within the European Union to protect them from extinction, while at the same time it is being legally killed on a massive scale elsewhere. For example, in France almost two million skylarks are shot every year during the bird migration season, although the species is classified as endangered on the Red List in Germany and other neighbouring countries.

More than 100,000 lapwings, listed as critically endangered in Germany, also fall victim to legal hunting every year across the EU. Whether other endangered bird species in addition to the turtle dove will soon receive protection from legal hunting is an open question.

The EU Commission has been examining this for some time, so far without result. For the turtle dove, however, things could continue to improve. Inspired by the rapid success of the temporary protection, the governments of France, Spain and Portugal recently announced that they would extend the hunting break during the autumn migration this year (2024) as well.

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For more information contact: Commitee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) at (WhatsApp +44-7771-1780-165 or Email CABS Press Office via CABS@komitee.de