The hunting season ends once again with many accidents

ROME - The hunting season in most regions closes tomorrow, 30 January (in some it will continue until 10 February). The Association of victims of the hunt (Avc), in specifying that the definitive data of the hunting season 2019-2020 will be announced on February 1 after the closure, publish on its website the "War Bulletin n.7", updated to 15 January 2020, indicating "82 human victims: 24 dead and 58 injured". The CVA website also details the numbers of the victims in the hunting and non-hunting environment, the chronology and the places where the events took place.

The WWF indicates that in 5 months there have been "178 kidnappings and 170 criminal violations found by 323 WWF volunteer guards, which, however, alone are not enough to combat illegality". Referring to the continuation of the hunting season in some regions, the environmental association notes that "if it is true that on paper it is limited to some species, it is legitimate to imagine that the episodes of poaching will repeat, given the very serious lack of vigilance that is found in many territorial situations ".

The WWF explains: "Rare and protected species killed by shootings - including Egyptian vulture, hermit ibis, Bonelli's eagle, Lanner Falcon, not to mention the huge trafficking of decoy birds -; most of the Italian regions that continue to violate systematic, Italian laws and European and international principles on the protection of wildlife and hunting: 9 administrative appeals by the WWF accepted by the judges in as many regions. The 323 WWF guards in almost 15,000 hours of service detected 645 violations 170 of which were criminal and related to the competent Authorities, ordered 178 seizures, imposed penalties of 172,500 euros and recovered 705 animals.

On the eve of the end of the hunting season, with a "heavy balance between millions of animals killed and human victims", the National Animal Protection Agency (ENPA) calls for "the intervention of the Minister of the Interior and the raising of the insurance ceilings ", which among other things" feed a part of the fund destined to the victims of the hunt ", because" it is now a matter of safety ". "Millions of increasingly rare wild animals killed only for the sadistic fun of a few - notes the Enpa - Campaigns 'militarized' by small armies of people who, instead of respecting nature, go around armed. Regions that trample on sentences of Tar, Constitutional Court , The Council of State and the authoritative scientific opinions in order to maintain a handful of consensus and human victims: this is the terrible picture of hunting in Italy - observes the association - which devastates environments, pollutes habitats and endangers the life of hikers , citizens, and even children ".

Recalling that there is "a dramatic picture for the environment, where parks are cut and where the scourge of poaching takes on dramatic connotations, and where for the European Union we are under special surveillance for our overly permissive hunting policies", l 'Enpa asks "the Government to intervene forcefully, above all towards those regions, of the managers, of the political offices who continue to consciously issue illegitimate acts, against the interests of citizens who instead would like greater protection for wild animals recognized by national law 157/92 as "unavailable state assets". The ENPA also points the finger at the "ease" with which it is possible to obtain the renewal of the hunting license today, which takes place every 5 years upon presentation of a medical certificate.

At the end of the 2019-20 hunting season, the association in defense of birds Lipu-BirdLife believes that "regulatory intervention on poaching and illegal hunting is indispensable and urgent, including an extraordinary measure such as the Dave (Prohibition of hunting), which stops the hunting in the presence of acts of poaching. To support this bill which provides for the complete stop of hunting in areas where poaching occurs "we have already collected over 100 thousand signatures", because "it is time to turn the page". hunting, which began with the early days of September and which will have a 10-day extension in some regions, "ends with some steps forward on the protection front, thanks to greater protection of endangered bird species - declares Aldo Verner, president of Lipu - such as the lapwing and the pochard, and the early closure of the season for pre-nuptial migration species, such as thrushes and woodcock, determi born in many cases from the successes in administrative appeals ".

At the same time, continues Verner, "two major problems have been confirmed: the filovenatory disposition of many regions and the persistence of serious phenomena of poaching and illegal hunting, which determine a sort of gray area extremely harmful and difficult to deal with". "The two phenomena - continues Verner - are however connected, to the extent that the regional administrations continue to take measures on the thread of illegitimacy, if not full-fledged illegitimacy, which end up creating an atmosphere of tolerance and the feeling, reinforced by the reduced vigilance, that basically everything can be done ". For this reason, adds the president of Lipu, "it is essential that the anti-poaching action plan is fully applied, starting from the regulatory changes that increase the penalties, increase vigilance and recognize the function of the judicial police to the guards. - he concludes - it is an extraordinary intervention that can truly constitute a detractor for widespread poaching ".