Abstract

Official hunting statistics from 24 EU member states as well as Switzerland and Norway were collated. Data on 82 permissible quarry species of bird (listed in Annex II of the EU Birds Directive), mostly from the hunting season 2014/15 but in some cases from earlier years, were evaluated and compared with a previous study.The results show a total annual hunting bag of at least 52 million birds. In addition, a significant number of birds are killed, legally or illegally, in areas just beyond the study area and in European countries for which no data were available (Greece, Ireland, the Netherlands and the UK). Despite a long-term decrease in the gross number of killings compared with older data, the bag figures for certain species, such as Common Pochard Aythya ferina, Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus, Turtle Dove Streptopelia turtur and Skylark Alauda arvensis, remain high in proportion to their declining populations in Europe. Against a backdrop of declining populations of many affected species, hunting pressures may be undermining conservation efforts undertaken for these species in other countries.