Based on the amount of game reports collected, as well as other reports, the Danish Falconry Club must state that the first four years of falconry must be considered to have been a success, as no negative consequences can be demonstrated.
According to DFK, the very small amount of game killed each year by the use of birds of prey will not have any negative impact on the game population. Regulation and scaring away using birds of prey has proven to be of great societal relevance, as it has been possible to regulate harmful game in areas where the use of firearms has not been appropriate. There have if. The Danish Environmental Protection Agency and DFK have not reported any violations of the executive order on hunting and regulation of the use of birds of prey, nor any documented wildlife crime that can be attributed to the introduction of falconry. There is if. The Danish Environmental Protection Agency made no reports of illegal capture of wild birds of prey during the period when the executive order was in force. There have of course been reports of birds flying away by accident or during training. In the period 2019 and 2020, the Danish Environmental Protection Agency has received reports of 3 escaped birds of prey (2 in 2019 and 1 in 2020). The agency has no indications that the 3 birds that flew away in the period 2019-2021 escaped in connection with hunting with birds of prey. DFK believes these figures are fully acceptable.
All birds that flew away have without exception been found and returned to their owners. There are no escaped birds of prey that have permanently taken up residence in the Danish countryside. So a narrative around fauna pollution and the colonization of exotic birds of prey is not an existing problem at all. In the past four years, there have been no reports or complaints about illegal falconry on other people’s hunting grounds.
There has also only been reported a single “shooting” of a pheasant in the last four years. This low amount of shooting harmonizes with the Animal Ethics Council’s report from 2006, which assumes that the “shooting problem” must be assumed to be less when hunting with birds of prey than when hunting with firearms, as a bird of prey can only attack a single animal at a time, while shotguns can injure several than the animal being targeted. Finally, the prey animals that are caught are usually killed relatively quickly by either the bird of prey or the hunter.
There have if. The Danish Environmental Protection Agency has seen a slight increase in the number of birds of prey since the legalization of falconry came into force. DFK does not believe that this minimal increase can be attributed to falconry, as birds of prey are allowed to be kept by people without these people having the right to hunt with birds of prey.
The Ministry of the Environment and Food writes in their report from November 2021 “The summary shows the number of birds of prey and the number of owners per raptor species. Since the same owner can have several species of birds of prey (and many owners typically have several species), it is not possible to find the number of bird flock owners by adding up the numbers in the overview. Since a flock of birds of a certain species may have been dismantled at the same time as a new flock of the same species has been established, the inventory cannot give a complete picture of the development of flocks of birds of prey.” According to DFK, a falconer with the record “hunting with raptor” typically uses only one or two game birds per day. hunting season, and these birds may well be the same several years in a row.
Veterinarians commissioned by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency for blood and feather testing for DNA analysis of all new flocks of birds of prey are typically on inspection at the owner’s address. These vets have a duty to report if they observe neglect or violations of the Animal Welfare Act. DFK is not aware of any reports of animal welfare cases in connection with flocks of birds of prey. It cannot therefore be assumed as a negative consequence of the falconry that more birds of prey have come into captivity, as it must be assumed that birds of prey in Danish flocks thrive, and have it sound in terms of animal welfare. 7 DFK still wants a reassessment and relaxation of the bird keeping order, so that all falconers can legally keep and practice hunting and regulation with Annex 1 birds (native species). This is seen from the principle of naturalness that perfectly legally bred birds of prey in captivity, which via evolution have a natural predisposition to hunt native game, may only be used by very few people who have had a team from before 1994 and a dispensation.
Danish falconers must have the same opportunity as in other EU countries to choose the most suitable bird of prey for the hunt or regulation in question. Whether this bird of prey is native or exotic must only be determined by a legal CITES document and holding permit. This evaluation has been carried out by the Danish Falconry Club with data from the Danish Environment and Food Agency, the Danish Hunters’ Association, the Animal Ethics Council and Aarhus University. –
About the Danish Falconry Club
The association was formed in 1993 and is the oldest and largest organization that looks after the interests of falconry and falconers in Denmark. DFK is a nationwide association with members in all parts of Denmark, and has a large international network through IAF. Dansk Falkejagt Klub is a full member of IAF (International Association for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey) and thereby represented in IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). Likewise, DFK is also represented as an A member in the Outdoor Council. Falconry is recognized by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage, and worldwide 24 countries have joined the preservation of the historic form of hunting, which is also recognized as worthy of preservation by FACE (Eurorean Federation for Hunting and Conservation
Source: DHC (DFK)
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