Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Scientific names of species referred to in this text
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Status and distribution patterns of European ungulates: genetics, population history and conservation
- 3 A review of the various legal and administrative systems governing management of large herbivores in Europe
- 4 Hunting seasons in relation to biological breeding seasons and the implications for the control or regulation of ungulate populations
- 5 The census and management of populations of ungulates in Europe
- 6 Impacts of wild ungulates on vegetation: costs and benefits
- 7 Wild ungulate diseases and the risk for livestock and public health
- 8 Traffic collisions involving deer and other ungulates in Europe and available measures for mitigation
- 9 Large herbivores as ‘environmental engineers’
- 10 Ungulate–large carnivore relationships in Europe
- 11 The role of pathogens in the population dynamics of European ungulates
- 12 Climate change and implications for the future distribution and management of ungulates in Europe
- 13 Ungulate management in Europe: towards a sustainable future
- Index
- References
4 - Hunting seasons in relation to biological breeding seasons and the implications for the control or regulation of ungulate populations
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 April 2011
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Scientific names of species referred to in this text
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Status and distribution patterns of European ungulates: genetics, population history and conservation
- 3 A review of the various legal and administrative systems governing management of large herbivores in Europe
- 4 Hunting seasons in relation to biological breeding seasons and the implications for the control or regulation of ungulate populations
- 5 The census and management of populations of ungulates in Europe
- 6 Impacts of wild ungulates on vegetation: costs and benefits
- 7 Wild ungulate diseases and the risk for livestock and public health
- 8 Traffic collisions involving deer and other ungulates in Europe and available measures for mitigation
- 9 Large herbivores as ‘environmental engineers’
- 10 Ungulate–large carnivore relationships in Europe
- 11 The role of pathogens in the population dynamics of European ungulates
- 12 Climate change and implications for the future distribution and management of ungulates in Europe
- 13 Ungulate management in Europe: towards a sustainable future
- Index
- References
Summary
Introduction
Almost all European countries operate with a principle of restricted hunting periods for some or all species (with the exception of Portugal, where technically the season lasts from 1 June in any year to 31 May of the following year, although most hunting activity is carried out between September and February). There is, however, an enormous diversity in length (and actual time of year) of the permitted season in different countries (even in adjacent countries: e.g. seasons in the three adjacent countries of the Baltics: Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia) and seasons also vary – often quite markedly – between different regions or provinces of one country (e.g. Italy, Austria, Germany).
It is further apparent that such seasons may also show little relation to actual biological breeding seasons (rut, parturition, period of dependency of young) and such mismatch between hunting and biological seasons may have serious consequences. This chapter explores the wide variation in hunting season in different European countries and the implications of the mismatch with biological seasons for welfare, social dynamics – and the ability (or failure) of hunters to regulate ungulate populations.
There are at least three critical times of year in relation to breeding seasons of ungulates:
the period of the rut (i.e. period between the first and the last copulation in the observed population)
pre-parturition (i.e. period between late development of embryos and parturition; we take this period as that period between the time when the foetus may reach half of the birth weight and actual birth)
the period following parturition when young animals may be nutritionally or socially dependent on the mother.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Ungulate Management in EuropeProblems and Practices, pp. 80 - 105Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011
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