Turkey permits hunting of two endangered bird species

Pochard (Photo: pxfuel)

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The Central Hunting Committee on Wednesday (July 8) permitted the hunting of pochards and turtle doves, two endangered bird species.

According to the committee's decision, hunters will be allowed to hunt three turtle doves and two pochards in one hunting day.

Nature and life defenders are preparing to file a lawsuit for the cancellation of the decision. A campaign launched by 28 organizations on change.org against the permit was signed by nearly 100,000 people.

Doğa Association's Conservation Program Director Itri Levent Erkol and HAYTAP Animal Rights Federation's Ankara Representative Pelin Sayılgan made a joint statement on the issue, saying that the right to life is a non-negotiable right for all living beings.

Turtle dove(Photo: Pixabay)

Pointing out that one of the Central Hunting Committee's duties is to determine the species that need to be protected, they said, "With the reports we have published, we have repeatedly proved why the endangered birds shouldn't be hunted."

They argued that the decision was also against articles 6 and 8 of the Convention on Biological Diversity, which mandates the signatory countries to develop strategies for the conservation of threatened species.  

"One of the reasons for this wrong decision is the structure of the Central Hunting Committee. Out of 21 members of the committee, nine are hunters, one is a hunting ground owner, one is the Federation of Hunting and Shooting and one is a civil society organization the working area of which is not determined," the statement said, noting that there are no scientists in the committee.

They would appeal the decision, they added.

The population of turtle doves and pochards is rapidly decreasing

The population of turtles in Turkey has decreased by 78 percent over the past 40 years while the pochard population decreased by half in 20 years.

Both species are included in the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) red list of endangered species.

According to BirdLife, 12 to 38 million birds are hunted every year in the Mediterranean Basin. (TP/VK)