From the general assessment, but also from the information from hunting associations but also from individual hunters, this year's beginning of the hunting season of endemic prey was below average, refuting some optimistic estimates, at least regarding the feathered prey.
According to our information, regarding the day before yesterday, the general conclusion is that this year did not start with the best omens. For both the hare and the partridge, the yield appears to have been much lower. Of course, there were some areas that showed that they were strong enough to hunt, but in the general context, they are considered just an oasis in the general trend of desertification that many Cypriot habitats show.
Specifically, although there is no official count to be able to draw clear conclusions, the hare moved to the same or slightly worse levels than last year.
It is a fact that there were areas where several hares were beaten, but on the other hand in many areas the hares were really counted on the fingers of one hand and, even worse, in some others, whole hunting hares of traditional hare hunters with very strong dogs did not find even soft, as we were typically told, even in areas that were considered traditional lagoons.
The general assessment is that there is a serious problem regarding the hare populations, which for the second consecutive year seems to be unable to recover substantially after the tragic situation in which it had fallen three years ago. At the time, the problem was attributed to tuberculosis. However, in the last two years at least, no cases of the disease have been recorded, but nevertheless the hare has not been able to recover substantially, a fact that should cause intense concern to all those responsible.
As for the partridge, surely the estimates are that this year's harvest of the first day was better than last year, which was perhaps the worst of all time. Yet again, despite the predictions of a recovery trend of prey, it seems that it was not such as to dispel concerns about the prevailing situation.
Of course, there were some who achieved significant numbers of birds, but they are still considered very few. Some of them, in fact, achieved a significant number of birds, setting up cartridges in areas around liberation nuclei and therefore their fruiting can not be considered a representative sample of the situation.
The same situation seems to prevail in frangolina. After last year's tragic situation where the frangolina was an endangered species, this year there were some birds in some areas, however again, as evidenced by the harvest, the recovery is not considered satisfactory. So much so that many express fears that it will be very difficult, even unlikely to have meetings from now on.
Nine complaints with "good morning"
The Thera Service, during the first hunting expedition, made a total of nine complaints from hunters.
Six of them concerned cases of non-renewal of a hunting license, two cases of hunting in restricted areas and one case of a person carrying a firearm mounted inside the car. A bad habit which is first of all very dangerous and then illegal, since the purpose of the legislation is primarily to protect against any accidents and after poaching.
Many times in the past, serious accidents have been recorded, since a set up weapon means many chances to be forgotten.
Meanwhile, in the case that unfolded on Sunday in Maroni, where a group of poachers who were poaching in the area attacked and shot a owner of a plow and his two sons, two people were arrested by the Police, while an arrest warrant was issued for two other people.
According to the facts of the case, the group of hunters was hunting in the area which was forbidden. When the owner of the plow told them he would report them because they were hunting in a restricted area, they attacked both him and his two sons who were there.
Source: Liberal