HUNT - ROME, 17 JUN 2009 - Wwf Italy has made a formal request to close the rock ptarmigan hunt throughout the Alps to save it from extinction. The request is addressed to the Regions and Provinces that are currently formulating the new hunting calendars for the season that will start in September.
The partridge, a symbolic species of the Alps, has been showing serious difficulties for many years with a decrease, often drastic, with populations almost completely made up of isolated nuclei. The main problem of the species seems to be linked to the climatic changes in progress, especially in relation to the decrease in snow, but some other factors are indicated in the scientific literature as important causes of this situation: among these the hunting, whose significant impact is certainly added to other causes of decline, such as the increased accessibility of high-altitude areas, the development of new ski facilities and unregulated winter and spring hiking.
The hunters' associations themselves admit with concern the serious rarefaction of the species, as confirmed by all the censuses carried out. In recent years some Provinces, such as Como, Lecco and Bergamo, have autonomously closed the hunt for the species due to the very low numerical consistency.
Source: Caccia Passione News