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BIG GAME HUNTING IN PORTUGAL: PRESENT AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES
C. Fonseca
Department of Biology & CESAM, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal, cfonseca@ua.pt
In Portugal, five ungulate species
are considered as big game: wild boar
(Sus scrofa), red deer (Cervus elaphus), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus),
fallow deer (Dama dama) and mouflonor wild sheep (Ovis amon).
The wild boar is the most important
big game species in terms of distribution and hunted animals per year
(Fonseca & Correia, 2008). Official
records indicated around 15,400 thousands wild boars legally killed during
the 2008/2009 hunting season (Fig. 1).
However the situation was very different 50 years ago. In 1967 wild boar
was consider a non-hunting species in
Portugal and its hunting was forbidden
outside fenced areas. This circumstances, associated to the gradual
abandon of the agriculture fields and
consequent increase of the scrubland
and forest areas, as well as to the high
prolificacy of the species (Fonseca et
al. 2011) permit a rapid increase of the
species in Portugal, originated from
some core populations located in the
mountainous regions of the north, centre and south of the country (Ferreira
et al, 2009).Currently the wild boar is
distributed all over the country with the
exception of few littoral areas near the
Atlantic Ocean and in the big metropolitan areas (mainly Oporto and Lisbon).
The red deer is the biggest native
Iberian cervid. Presently it occupies
several border regions between Portugal and Spain, where we can find the
most important natural populations,
originated by animals dispersing from
the Spanish territory. The Portuguese
red deer populations from Montesinho,
TejoInternacional and Alentejo Interior
(Contenda-Barrancos) result, mainly,
by the expansion of the Spanish populations (Vingada et al. 2010). However,
other red deer populations such as
Lousã and Monchique (Algarve) mountains result from reintroductions conducted during the end of the last century (Fonseca 2004).Nowadays the
hunting of red deer in Portugal occurs
in natural populations (indicated
above) and in fenced areas (mostly in
the south of the country). Around
4,000 thousand red deer were killed in
the last hunting season.
Fallow deer wasintroduced in Portugal several centuries ago. Its present
distribution area is very restricted and
frequentlyconfined to enclosures. The
most important fallow deer population
occurs in the TapadaNacional de
Mafra, an 819 ha enclosure where the
species is sympatric with red deer and wild boar (Vingada et al. 2010). Several semi-captivity populations exist in the south and centre of Portugal. Although several animals have already escaped from these fenced areas, the
free-ranging populations are located in the Sadoriverand Évoraregions. Portuguese hunters do not consider fallow deer an attractive game species. In
the 2008/2009 hunting season, 452 fallow deer were legally hunted in Portugal, especially trophy hunting.
Roe deer is considered a native species occurring mostly in the North
and Centre of Portugal. In the north of Douro river the populations are considered natural (Torres et al. 2011), existing there for centuries and having a
strong link with the Spanish ones (Galicia and Castilla Leon), while in the
south of this river roe deer populations are the result of relatively recent reintroduction processes (Carvalho et al. 2008) for hunting and conservation
purposes, namely for the conservation of the Iberian wolf population in the
areas located in the south of Douro river (Arada and Malcata mountains).
Roe deer legal hunting in Portugal practically does not exist. One or two
hunting units are allowed to kill this cervid under tight rules.
Mouflon is classified as an exotic species in Portugal. It was legally introduced exclusively for game purposes in 1990. At the moment, the mouflonoccurs in some hunting fenced areas in Alentejo and TejoInternacional
(south and centre interior of Portugal). Around 100 individuals were shot in
the hunting season 2008/2009.
The big game hunting in Portugal is widely legislated. Among several
specificities, the big game methods are a) “By stalking” (Aproximação)–when
the hunter actively searches, pursues and capture game with or without the
help of hunting dogs and a game guide;b) Sit and Wait hunting (Espera)–
when the hunter remains in oneplace, usually high seat or observation platform; c) Battue hunting (Batida)- the hunter waits for game driven by beaters
without hunting dogs;d) Drive hunting (Montaria), the most common one –
when the hunter waits, in a previously designated location, for large game
disturbed by dog packs driven by beaters and f) “Spear hunting” (Cavalo
com lança)–when the hunter uses a spear to kill game with or without a
horse or hunting dogs.
Besides the historical, social and economic relevance of the hunting, currently the management of big game in Portugal is facing new challenges.
The stakeholders are aware that the correct management should be based
on field data collected, treated and presented by technicians and wildlife researchers, who necessarily should implement policies, decisions and management actions.
REFERENCES
Carvalho, P., Nogueira, A., Soares, AMVM and Fonseca, C. (2008). Ranging
behaviour of translocated roe deer in a Mediterranean habitat: seasonal
and altitudinal influences on home range size and patterns of range use.
Mammalia. 72: 89-94.
Ferreira E., Souto L., Soares A.M.V.M. & Fonseca C. (2009). Genetic structure of the wild boar population in Portugal: Evidence of a recent bottleneck. Mammalian Biology 74 (4): 274-285.
Fonseca, C. (2004). Berrosna Serra (O regresso dos veados à Serra da
Lousã) [The return of the red deer to Lousa Mountain]. NationalGeographic Magazine - Portugal. N.º 38 (Maio 2004): 11 – 21. [In Portuguese].
Fonseca, C. & Correia, F. (2008). O Javali [The Wild Boar]. Colecção Património Natural Transmontano. João Azevedo Editor (1.ª Edição). Mirandela, 168 pp. [In Portuguese].
Fonseca C., A. Alves da Silva, J. Alves, J. Vingada and A.M.V.M. Soares
(2011). Reproductive performance of wild boar females in Portugal.European Journal of Wildlife Research. 57 (2): 363–371.
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Torres R.T., Santos J., Linnell J.D.C.,
Virgós E., Fonseca C. (2011). Factors affecting roe deer occurrence in
a Mediterranean landscape, Northeastern Portugal. Mammalian Biology 76 (4): 491-497.
Vingada, J., Fonseca, C., Cancela, J., Ferreira, J. and Eira, C. (2010) Ungulates and their Management in Portugal.Pp: 392-418. In: Apollonio, M.,
Andersen, R. & Putman, R.J. (eds.) European Ungulates and their Management in the 21st Century. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
Fig. Wild boars legally hunted in Portugal from 1989 until 2009.