Age ratio, crippling losses and factors affecting daily hunting bags of European Turtle-dove in Spain: Implications for sustainable harvest management of a declining migratory species

• Published in: The Science of the total environment 2023-04, Vol.868, p.161192-161192, Article 161192
• Main Authors: Moreno-Zarate, Lara, Arroyo, Beatriz, Sardà-Palomera, Francesc, Rocha, Gregorio, Bota, Gerard, Peach, Will J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptive harvest management; Age structure; Animals; Columbidae; Crippling losses; Europe; Game species; Hunting; Seasons; Spain; Streptopelia turtur; Sustainable hunting
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.161192

Knowledge of seasonal variation in hunting pressure and the demographic composition of hunting bags is likely to be important for the effective management of quarry species. Such knowledge is particularly important where regulatory mechanisms aim to avoid the over-exploitation of quarry species having unfavourable conservation status. We compiled information on the age composition of harvested European Turtle-doves (Streptopelia turtur), and the daily numbers of doves shot and retrieved from 68 hunting estates spread across four Spanish regions. We use these data to describe temporal variation, and identify factors affecting daily hunting bags, age composition and crippling losses. We found that more juvenile doves were hunted than adults (and more than expected in a stable population) especially at the beginning of the hunting season, suggesting greater vulnerability of juveniles to hunting. The number of doves hunted each day declined through the hunting season and increased with the number of hunters present. Crippling losses averaged 9.6 % of all doves shot; applying this rate to recent Spanish government hunting statistics suggests under-recording of approximately 90,000 doves annually for the entire country. Our data on age composition and crippling losses can serve as direct inputs into future models of sustainable harvest for Turtle Dove in Europe. Our results highlight the importance of improving knowledge about the variables influencing take at the hunting event level for designing more efficiency regulatory measures. [Display omitted] •We describe estate-level variation in daily turtle dove hunting bags.•Daily harvest increases with hunter numbers and declines through the hunting season.•Juvenile doves are more susceptible to hunting than adults.•Crippling mortality, excluded from official statistics, accounts for 10 % of harvest.•Several variables influencing daily harvest are unregulated by policy.