LINKED PAPER Understanding hunter’s habits and motivations for shooting raptors in the Batumi raptor-migration bottleneck, southwest Georgia. Sándor, A., Jansen, J., Vansteelant, W.M.G. 2017. Sandgrouse. VIEW

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Batumi bottleneck in Ajara region, Georgia, is a place which attracts many people to watch the phenomenal migration of +1.000.000 raptors during the autumn. But, the other side of such an event is the number of illegal hunting and shooting just a few hundred meters away from the places of watching and counting the raptors. The number of raptor casualties is estimated between 1500 and 10000 which is a considerable amount, affecting some birds of prey with globally decreasing populations. 

Anna Sandor and her colleagues conducted a research for a month (August 13th-September 12th) in 2014 to understand the hunters’ behaviours and the extent of hunting in Batumi by using two methods: filling a questionnaire and observing the hunting activities. 43 hunters agreed on answering questions anonymously about their habits and motivations. This questionnaire provided an insight into the demographic and social states of hunters. The systematic observation took place in 14 villages and 159 hours were spent, monitoring the shooting activities in relation to weather and migration conditions. The researchers also recorded the number of injured and shot birds with details about species, age and sex as much as possible.

Figure 1. Counting and identifying birds shot during migration at Batumi.

Based on the questionnaire’s answers, the hunters were all men, aged between 17 and 73 years old. Nearly half of them had primary school education and  37 percent didn’t have any job. More than 50 percent of respondents claimed their primary target were raptors. While the first reason for shooting raptors for almost all of them (89%) was fun, 37 percent of respondents had a second reason which was mostly food. As half of hunters stated that they eat raptors, targeting birds as food made sense. 

During the systematic shooting monitoring 223 hunters were observed and minimum 2044 shots were recorded which meant an average 12 shots per hour. Although on the day with the highest number of shots (31 August 2014 with 512), the migration intensity was high, too, the comparison between days with more than 50 shots and weather/ migration conditions didn’t prove any significant correlation. With half of the million-plus migratory raptors being European Honey Buzzards (Pernis apivorus), it’s not surprising that this species were affected the most.

Figure 2. Adult Honey Buzzard injured from a gunshot passing through the Batumi Bottleneck © Valentin Cordes.

The main finding about hunting habits is that such activity is not for sustenance, but for fun. Even Shooting for food seems to be mostly due to the cheap and easy way it provides meat. 

There is a great conservation concern about harriers as they pass in high numbers through the Batumi bottleneck and fly closer to ground than other birds of prey, which makes them a good target for shooting. Globally decreasing trends for most of the harrier species means the illegal shooting in Batumi needs to be controlled.

The authors are well aware of their research limits, especially timing, as it was only a one-month survey to cover the high season of harrier passing, therefore it did not cover the migration peak of large eagles and also Steppe Buzzards (Buteo buteo vulpinus). Moreover, as the weather plays a significant role in migration intensity, there is a need to cover the second half of migration season as well, because not only there are more rainy days which might mean more hunting, but also the thermals for soaring are less and raptors like eagles and buzzards are forced to fly lower, thus they might get shot easier.

Image credit

Top right: Kettle of migratory raptors © Christian Gelpke.