A recent study by the Sorbonne University in Paris* provides the first comprehensive evidence that the mass hunting of native wildlife such as foxes, martens, and corvids is not only very costly, but also ineffective and economically inefficient both as a means of population control and for preventing damage. Rather, these killings appear to disrupt important ecological processes in a destructive manner. The German Animal Welfare Federation considers the French study a groundbreaking analysis that undermines the hunters’ arguments here in Germany as well. The federation calls for a shift in thinking regarding the treatment of wild animals: Instead of blanket hunting, it argues, there is a need for comprehensive, evidence-based wildlife management that takes ecological, financial, and ethical aspects into account and focuses on prevention and deterrence.
“Anyone serious about animal welfare and nature conservation must take note of these findings. Instead of continuing to waste money on outdated hunting traditions and the pleasure of a small social group, we finally need an animal-welfare-friendly approach to wildlife that is appropriate to the complex processes in ecosystems,” comments James Brückner, head of the Wildlife Department at the German Animal Welfare Federation. Hunters justify their hunting of certain wild animals by citing health risks as well as economic or even ecological damage that these animals allegedly cause. Many studies and examples already show how hollow these arguments are. However, none has yet provided such comprehensive findings as the new French study.
OVER 100 MILLION EUROS ANNUALY SPENT ON HUNTING WITHOUT EFFECT
For their study, the scientists analyzed data from seven years across all of France. For most animal species, the killings did not result in a long-term reduction in population numbers. Nor did the reported wildlife damage—including crop losses and poultry killed—decrease. On the contrary: in some cases, damage actually increased the more individuals of a species were killed. There was no increase in damage even when hunting was stopped or reduced in a region. At the same time, hunting foxes and other animals—due to the costs of time, transportation, materials, and ammunition—is estimated to cost over 100 million euros annually: nearly 64 euros per animal killed. The costs of damage, by contrast, amount to only 8 to 23 million euros.
IMPORTANT FUNCTIONS IN THE ECOSYSTEM
In Germany, hunters kill a similar number of wild animals as in neighboring France, including around 450,000 foxes, more than 70,000 martens, and several hundred thousand corvids each year. The current study suggests that this disrupts important processes in the ecosystem that would also benefit humans. For instance, corvids disperse seeds and fruits; the jay, for example, hides acorns in the fall, thereby ensuring the growth of thousands of new oak trees. Foxes and martens, among other things, keep mouse populations in check. Just recently, the Bundesrat approved the blanket hunting of wolves, even though these animals play an important ecological role as predators. “Science tells us quite clearly that grazing animals can only be protected through herd protection measures, not by hunting wolves,” said Brückner.
