Hunting broadly not responsible for birds declining across Europe, study finds
Hunting is not the main reason bird populations are declining across Europe, according to new research from University College Dublin in collaboration with the Spanish research institute Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC).
A study reveals that hunting is not the primary driver of declining bird populations across Europe, according to research conducted by University College Dublin and the Spanish research institute Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos. By analyzing population trends for 256 bird species in nine European countries, including Ireland and the United Kingdom, the researchers found no significant link between whether a species could be legally hunted and its likelihood of experiencing a population decline.
While not dismissing the potential impact of hunting on individual species, the study emphasizes that national-level measures of huntability do not fully capture the complex factors influencing bird populations. The findings, published in Global Ecology and Conservation, underscore the need for more detailed data on hunting intensity, local demographics, and specific population trends to better understand the role of hunting in bird population changes.
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