Reopening of the hunt: the Ministry of Ecology approves the killing of 10,560 turtle doves
After a suspension in 2024, the Ministry of Ecological Transition plans to reopen the hunt for turtle doves. Citing an improvement in their numbers, it plans to send over 10,560 individuals to their death, once again giving in to hunters. This is a real step backwards for these birds whose species is not faring well. Today, One Voice is calling for the immediate removal of turtle doves from the list of huntable species.
Efforts to protect turtle doves reduced to nothing
10,560 turtle doves are going to lose their lives to bullets. Classified as ‘vulnerable’, they have enjoyed a brief respite in recent years, following a massive campaign against hunting them, which led the Council of State to impose a complete ban. This year, the Ministry of Ecology has backtracked and approved their killing in the name of a supposed improvement in their population. This is an unacceptable step backwards and yet another example of how the State promotes this destructive practice.
The quota set is nothing more than a smokescreen. Rather than protecting sentient beings, the authorities are once again legitimising a leisure activity from another era, under the constant influence of the hunting lobby. While guns are being loaded, animal life and ecological arguments are being relegated to the background.
Yet for many years the IUCN has been warning that the pursuit of this activity during migration is one of the most significant threats facing these birds, not to mention pollution, forest fires, heat waves and massive urbanisation.
A persistent threat ignored
Turtle doves still do not have the right to live in peace. Banning shooting would be an essential measure to prevent their disappearance, but the government continues to turn a blind eye. Behind false pretexts, it authorises the slaughter of thousands of birds, sometimes using particularly cruel methods. No questions are being asked despite the less than mixed results of the European Commission’s actions to protect animals and nature as a whole.
To oppose this draft ministerial decree, we invite you to make your disapproval known before 22 August, and to sign the petition to protect endangered bird species and ban systematic slaughter!