TITLE:
Professionalism in Wildlife Management: The Case of Gallifoms Releases in Hellas
AUTHORS:
Christos K. Sokos, Periklis K. Birtsas, Konstantinos G. Papaspyropoulos, Carlos Sánchez-García
KEYWORDS:
Survival, Reproduction, “Put and Take”, Hunting, Population Establishment
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Forestry,
Vol.6 No.2,
February
4,
2016
ABSTRACT: Hunting
organizations in cooperation with the Forest Service release thousands of
artificially reared pheasants and partridges in Hellas (Greece). To evaluate
the effectiveness of this practice a questionnaire was applied to hunting
wardens of four hunting federations in 2002 and one in 2011. Moreover data were
obtained from the wildlife managers of one federation from 2009 to 2014. The
release of hybrid pheasants and chukar partridges was conducted by the majority
of local hunting clubs (H.C.). Most hunting wardens and wildlife managers
stated that even during the most successful release only a small percentage (1%
- 10%) of released birds can survive for more than three months and usually
none of the released birds or a few achieve to rear chicks. However, repeated
releases led to the establishment of small groups of birds in some areas, but
without a serious benefit for hunting activity. In case of releases for hunting
purposes (put and take), the respondents said that the majority (90%) of
galliforms were killed by predators or hunters within a few days after release,
and that only few (18 - 25) hunters harvested the survived birds. Until 2009, in northern and
central mainland Hellas, the minimum cost per bird entering to the hunter’s bag
was 143€. That amount is estimated to be 33.47€ in islands and after 2009 in mainland. In
conclusion, the professionalism in galliforms releases should get improved with
appropriate legal decisions and organization structures.