HUNTING SEASON FOR 2012 CUT SHORT

By Linda Straker

Grenada is having a shorter season for hunting wildlife because of a reduction in wildlife species in the island’s forest.

In the aftermath of Hurricanes Ivan and Emily, the Forestry Department adopted a four-year moratorium on hunting of all wildlife, which was lifted in 2008. Since then the period of September 1 to January 31 was declared the hunting season, but continuous reduction based on observations and research has led the Ministry of Agriculture to declare a shorter period for 2012.

“We are still conducting a more in-depth research for 2012, but we still decided to allow some hunting,” said Wildlife Conservation Officer, Anthony Jeremiah, who explained that the 2012 season will be from October 1 to December 31, 2012.

There is a reduction in the island wildlife, especially Manicou, whose population seems to be suffering from hunters who exploit not only the mature or adult population but also the very young.

“By hunting the very young, we are now faced with a situation in which reproduction is difficult because those that can reproduce young ones are killed and young ones which should mature to reproduce are also killed,” said Jeremiah.

“If we continue like this we will not be able to maintain a sustainable supply and it’s against that background we want people to understand why they should only hunt the mature manicou,” he said.

Besides Manicou, hunters can also hunt, the Tatou otherwise called the Armadillo; the Mona Monkey; the Iguana; and the Ramier bird, otherwise called the Red Necked Pigeon.

According to law, hunting in the Grand Etang Forest Reserve is prohibited at all times and hunting offences on conviction are chargeable with $1 000 or a term of imprisonment for six months. The Grand Etang Forest Reserve was declared a protected area by legislation since 1908 as a means of protecting the area’s natural environment from human exploitation.

The adopted theme for the hunting season is “Be guided by best practices: Watch your take, let size matter not numbers”.