Neither Covid nor fires served to suspend the pre-opening days of hunting in the Lazio region. President Nicola Zingaretti has authorized the early opening of the 2020-202 hunting season by decree. And so, on 2 and 3 September the shotguns will go hunting, theoretically only for the Tortora (Streptopelia turtur turtur), from 5,40 to 19,40 (until 2017 the pre-opening days could not extend beyond 15). Each hunter will be able to kill a maximum of 5 turtle doves per day. L'Oipa highlights that the wild dove is indicated in the European evaluations as in a precarious state of conservation (SPEC 1 in BirdLife International, 2017).
Not only: With the note sent to the Region (prot. n.34739 of 04/08/2020), Ispra believes that pre-opening to the species should be excluded at least before the third Sunday of September. Furthermore, a note from the Ministry of the Environment of 2018 (prot n.0014687 of 3 July) reminds the Regions and the Autonomous Provinces to avoid authorizing the pre-opening of the wild turtle dove hunt. For its part, the Regional Agency for the Parks of Lazio has certified that in the last five years the expansion phase of the dove population "it is probably over, and the population currently shows a stable trend and a satisfactory status ”. This is why, according to President Zingaretti, the hunt for the species can be opened in advance.
Oipa also hopes that on-site checks will be sufficient to sanction any transgressors of the decree, like those who, taking advantage of the pre-opening days, will go hunting for everything that moves, as often happens. «We recall that in 2018 the same Zingaretti had promised that he would not authorize the pre-openings, a promise that was not kept either in 2018 or in subsequent years ", comments the Oipa delegate from Rome, Rita Corboli. "Taking into account that wildlife has also suffered a lot from the numerous fires this year and that we are still in a health emergency scenario due to the coronavirus, we expected greater sensitivity from the president of the Lazio regional council, which instead with its decree also this year has disappointed the lovers of animals, the environment and those who, like us, fight every day for their protection ».