Temporary authorisation given for hunting of wood pigeon

The Formentera Council's office of rural affairs announced today that, for questions of population control and the protection of local crops, the office would grant an exceptional and temporary authorisation for certain types of hunting. Sundays and Thursdays until 16 August, from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. and 5:30 to 9 p.m., the hunting of a particular type of pigeon—the wood pigeon, or ringdove—will be permitted on established game reserves.

The goal of the action, according to rural affairs councillor Bartomeu Escandell, is “to assure the adequate protection of those crops—namely grapes—that can be negatively impacted by this species of pigeon whose population has spiked locally in recent years”. As Escandell concluded, “the move falls within the CiF's programme of rural renewal and represents one method of guarding against plagues that impede that renewal”.