Hunting: Piedmont, new rules coming for the hunting of the Rock Ptarmigan and the Rock Partridge based on the data of the species census.
It starts on September 28, but the Region has asked for data on the census of ptarmigan and rock partridge. The hypotheses: prohibit shotguns from the most exposed area, or reduce the number of specimens that can be shot down. New rules on the way. The reduction of favorable habitats, the disturbance caused by man and climatic changes, increasingly extreme, are complementary factors that affect the reproduction of delicate species: seasonal censuses are confirming the numerical decline. Protect those species which, despite being included in the hunting calendar, therefore huntable, record a decrease in density in the territory.
The last word has not yet been said - the decision will be taken at the end of the second seasonal census (the first was carried out in the spring), the Region has asked for the data this week - but the direction is clear. It concerns two species spread more or less homogeneously in the Alps, the ptarmigan and the rock partridge, both prized and susceptible to seasonal increases or decreases linked to different factors: reduction of favorable habitats, anthropic disturbance, climate change.
The causes. Little snow or too much snow. Little rain or plenty of rain (the month of July speaks for itself) Freezing or less freezing temperatures. The decline of the rock partridge and rock partridge, declared "vulnerable species" in the red list of the World Union for Conservation of Nature, is closely linked to these dynamics.
Partridge e rock partridge. It is no coincidence that the Region, represented by the councilor Giorgio Ferrero, intends to limit the withdrawals as soon as the second census, based on the use of pointing dogs to "raise" the adults and discover the broods, will have confirmed the response of the first. Two solutions, discussed and evaluated in the technical meeting organized on 13 September in the Valle Varaita Alpine District: to reduce the number of animals that can be killed or prevented from hunting for a year in a specific basin so as to create a free zone, a reservoir. to allow these suffering species to recover. The start of the hunting season is set for 28 September.
Limits to hunting. Ferrero confirms: «In both cases, it is a question of influencing the harvesting plan, but we are determined to give a signal of protection against valuable species. I think that even the hunting world, the most balanced one, will understand. On the other hand, even today those responsible for the census confirm the decrease in numbers ».
In truth, the increase or decrease in seasonal density is not a prerogative of the ptarmigan, and of the rock partridge: from the black grouse to the biancone, certain dynamics are repeated. The numbers make the difference. Hence a choice in many ways unpopular. The alternative is the progressive desertification of our mountains, a prospect that not even hunters wish for: the more balanced ones, to use the words of the councilor.
2 September 2014
The print
Source: LaStampa