Impact of the hunting ban on the population and hunting bag of the Eurasian Woodcock Scolopax rusticola (Scolopacidae, Aves)

Abstract

Materials from National census of woodcock on the evening roding and hunting bag data from the State Registration Service on the territory of European Russia were used in the study. The impact of hunting bans due to viral infections in 2006 and 2020 (bird influenza A H5N1 and human coronavirus Covid-19, respectively) on the population of the Eurasian Woodcock Scolopax rusticola was described. An increase in roding intensity (the number of contacts) by 9.4% was detected in European Russia in 2007, possibly due to the ban. In 2019–2021, the roding intensity increased by 14.5% in the year of the ban (2020) only. The increase in the number of hunters in European Russia from 2006 to 2020 probably affected indicators of the National census of woodcock. This fact is consistent with the total (spring and autumn) shooting volume and the indicator of individual hunting bag in European Russia in 2021. After the hunting ban, the indicators of hunting bags remained almost the same as in 2019, and there was an increase in these indicators in 2007 as compared to 2005. Thus, the short-term and incomplete ban of spring hunting in European Russia (23 of 41 regions), based on the available data on roding and hunting bag, does not allow us to speak unambiguously about its positive effect on the number of woodcocks.