About 20,000 hunters went out last Sunday at the start of the summer hunting season, Game and Wildlife Service Spokesman Petros Anagiotos told the Cyprus News Agency (CYPE) on Tuesday, pointing out that hunters are required to register their game on the app of the “Artemis Cy” Hunting Service.
Speaking to KYPE, Mr. Anagiotos said that in the first hunting expedition of the summer hunting season (phase hunting), last Sunday approximately 20 thousand hunters went out with the Game Service making five complaints for the offense of hunting in a prohibited area. He further explained that checks were carried out from Saturday night until Sunday night and complaints were made in five cases, one in Paphos, one in Larnaca and three in Limassol province.
Mr. Anagiotos reminded that when someone hunts in the prohibited area, two offenses arise. The first is carrying a shotgun into a prohibited hunting area and the second is hunting/pursuing game within a prohibited hunting area which, he said, from these two offenses the resulting fine is 3,000 euros. He added that if other offenses arise then the fine increases.
The “Artemis Cy” application
Speaking about the application (app) of the Hunting Service “Artemis Cy” Mr. Anagiotos explained that the main role of the application is to enable the hunter who is in the field to see in real time his position in relation to the permitted and the prohibited hunting areas. He said that this application has been implemented for three years and has helped hunters a lot, while also significantly reducing the number of complaints about hunting in prohibited areas.
He noted that through the application there are other optional services given to hunters who want to use it such as placing their own points of interest, keeping a diary of their hunting trips or even placing information about their hunting dogs.
In addition, he continued, there is in the application the mandatory recording of the fruiting of the game by the hunters. “The recording of the fruiting through the application, automatically gives the sum through a software and thus we have the picture of the fruiting”, he said, noting that unfortunately in the last two years that the mandatory recording of the fruiting has been implemented there is not much impact in the world.
“We are now trying in various ways, even with checks, to send the message that the fruiting must be recorded compulsorily”, said Mr. Anagiotos, noting that the recording should be done for many reasons. One of them, as he said, specifically concerns the plovers as there is a restriction from the European Union and the harvest limit was set at 15,500 birds, noting that “at any time and moment we must know how many birds (plovers) were hunted so that when we reach it the number to stop the hunt”.
Counting fauna
To a question about whether there is a count of the fauna, especially for the species allowed for hunting, Mr. Anagiotos answered in the affirmative, explaining that the Hunting Service carries out sampling routes, i.e. on designated routes throughout free Cyprus, in habitats, i.e. in forest, rural , agricultural and open areas and others and an attempt is made to detect and count the Cypriot fauna (birds, hares, foxes, etc.).
In addition, he continued, what is done for hare and partridge prey is that a count is made in February where the parent population is recorded and a count is made in August where a new number is recorded which if subtracted from the parent population gives the breeding success of the prey.
He explained that for a breeding season to be considered successful or unsuccessful, weather conditions play an important role, noting that “if we have extreme weather conditions, either very hot, or very rain, or very cold then there will be a problem. If the weather conditions are as expected for the season then things are much better”. p>
Commenting on the fact that many hunters report that the game has decreased in recent years and whether the weather conditions, such as the rise in temperature, are responsible for this, Mr. Anagiotos said that the change in weather conditions certainly plays a role, but not it's just that. He indicated that there is a large reduction of habitats due to, among other things, residential development and solar parks. “Since there is no natural habitat, it follows that the fauna will also decrease as there is no home for the fauna,” he noted.
Referring to prevention measures that are taken, Mr. Anagiotos said that in recent years in order to carry out any project, especially in the special protection zones (nature), there must be the consent of the Game Service.
About 500 fines per year for poaching
Asked to comment on whether there is an increase in poaching, Mr. Anagiotos expressed his assessment that in recent years, both with the efforts of the Game Service and with the implementation of “Artemis Cy”, poaching has decreased. He pointed out that patrols and checks are carried out on a twenty-four-hour basis by the Hunting Service throughout free Cyprus.
He further explained that the court cases concern, among others, mainly hunting in prohibited areas, not having a hunting license, not training and marking dogs, but also cases of hunting vultures. He noted that about 500 poaching fines are issued each year, with wildlife poaching complaints being rare.
In a question about the recent case of wild poaching in Paphos, Mr. Anagiotos stated that the Service issued and delivered to the suspect an extrajudicial fine of 23,500 euros and he has a period of time to pay it. “If he doesn't pay it, then the case will go to court. When he goes to court, there is a high possibility that the judge will impose an even greater sentence,” he said.
40 thousand dogs registered in the Service's file
40 thousand dogs registered in the Service's file
b>
Noting that there seem to be phenomena of dogs being abandoned in the countryside by hunters, Mr. Anagiotos said that for the last three years it has been mandatory to mark the dog's microchip on the hunting license. He added that if dogs are found in a hunter's possession that are not listed on his hunting license, then there is a fine of 200 euros.
He explained that through the change in the legislation on the subject, hunting dogs are marked and 40 thousand dogs are registered in the records of the Game Service, which, as Mr. Anagiotos mentioned, is a very important step to reduce the number of stray dogs . “If a tagged dog is left in the open, we can easily track down its owner and then appropriate fines are imposed,” he said.
Danger from poisoned baits the vulture
Asked to comment on the Game Service's online posts on a social media platform to identify areas with poisoned baits, Mr. Anagiotos said the problem of poisoned baits is too big for important wildlife species and especially the eagle and vulture. Especially for the vulture, he continued, which is in danger of extinction and the main reason for its mortality is baiting. He noted that the “LIFE with Vultures” program is now underway which aims to recover and preserve the vulture in Cyprus with support and birds from abroad.
He said that in order to preserve the vulture population, the heavy losses caused by poisoned baits should be reduced, and for this reason, through the program, two teams of sniffer dogs that detect poisoned baits have been created.
November partridge and hare hunting
You are invited to comment when the new hunting season, Mr. Anagiotos said that the current hunting season ends in October and the main hunting season starts on November 3, when it will be partridge and hare hunting.
Source: KYPE
