“It’s the worst start to the hunting season in Tenerife of history». This is confirmed by Antonio Porras, president of the Tenerife Hunting Management Federation, after the hunting permit was opened last Sunday. Porras refers to two events that have unleashed indignation among the 5,000 federated members on the island as soon as the campaign began: the appearance in the National Park Teide of hundreds of dead rabbits, a species that is among those that can be captured, and the location of meat tallows at different points where hunting is allowed on the island that could be traps for dogs. These tallows scare away hunters because of the threat it poses to their dogs.
The licensed hunters from Tenerife who went last Sunday to the preserves located on Teide found that the dogs only brought rabbit carcasses, some more decomposed than others. The situation already came from behind, even before the use of shotguns to capture these mammals was prohibited in 2011, but it has been this year when more specimens have appeared lifeless. «It has been an exaggeration. It gives the impression that they have died of unnatural causes, that they could go through a massive poisoning”, Antonio Porras details, who clarifies that “it no longer makes sense to go hunting on Teide”. «Before you would go up and you could see up to 20 or 30 rabbits in a single day; now you have to be very lucky to see a live specimen. The only thing the dogs bring are bodies in the rotting phase, ”says the hunter.
The bad news for hunters would be good news for some conservation groups that see the rabbit as an invasive species that threatens the endemic flora of protected areas such as the Teide National Park. Hunters, however, question these theories defended by researchers from the University of La Laguna and technicians from canarian government and some councils. Porras recalls that hunters are “essential” in programs to control and eradicate overpopulations of rabbits and other species that are launched every year in places like the Teide National Park itself.
The hunters’ spokesman recalls that a few years ago he presented a complaint to the Environmental Prosecutor’s Office for the appearance of “some little balls” in different places on the Island where rabbit hunting is allowed. “The Institute of Tropical Diseases concluded that it was bromethalin, that is, rat poison.” «The rabbit is being tried to eradicate in an irregular way. Only on Sunday the hunters collected hundreds of remains, some turned into skeletons », he qualifies.
The president of the Tenerife Hunting Management Federation adds a third factor that explains “the lousy” start of the hunting season in Tenerife: «The increasing pressure on a sector demonized by a part of society». Porras defends that “hunters are not demons.” «We are quite fed up, and we have expressed it in some concentrations held in Tenerife, of the demonization that we suffer. We help to eliminate the excess of fauna that threatens the natural balanceamong many other things”, recalls one of the spokesmen for the Tenerife hunters.
Some members of the federation who climbed Mount Teide on Sunday ended up depositing dozens of dead rabbits in the Park containers that their dogs had found. Hunters ask for explanations to find out what has caused this massive mortality.
Hunting season
The last Sunday
The hunting season began last Sunday August 6 in the Canary Islands. The authorized hunting species are the rabbit, the common quail, the Moorish partridge and the wild pigeon. Wild animals are also considered authorized species.
Rabbit with dog and ferret
Rabbit hunting with dogs and ferrets will be allowed in the Canary Islands from last Sunday, August 6 to November 12. Shotgun cannot be used.
partridge and dove
The hunting of the Moorish partridge and wild pigeon with a dog and a shotgun is allowed from September 17 to November 12.
Quail
The hunting of common quail with a shotgun is allowed on the first five Sundays when the shotgun opens, on September 17.
