Robert Lalah and Laura Mathews, Gleaner WritersSkinny women take heart! The start to this year's bird shooting season has been delayed. The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) has advised that the bird shooting season, which normally would have started on August 21 to end on September 26, has been put on hold.
The passage of Hurricanes Ivan, Dennis and Emily has apparently affected the nesting patterns of game birds and so a later start to this year's bird shooting season is being contemplated.
awaiting final word
Zaidie Nuefville, public relations officer at NEPA, told The Gleaner on Thursday that the agency is now awaiting a final word from Environment Minister, Dean Peart, before the official start date for the season is announced.
But the agency is warning the more than 1,400 persons who are expected to participate in the activity when the season gets under way, to adhere to the prescribed regulations or be prepared to face stiff penalties.
The regulatory body warned that hunters should stick to prescribed bag limits and that they may shoot only the four types of approved birds. These are the Pea Dove (Zenaida aurita), the White-winged Dove (Zenaida asiatica), Bald-pate (Columba Leucocephala) and Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura).
According to information provided by The Panos Institute, approximately 76,490 birds were shot during the season last year. There were 31,949 white-winged doves, 31,361 baldpates, 8,414 long-tailed pea doves and 4,766 pea doves. While this adds up to 68,777 birds, environmentalists suggest that another 10 per cent should be added to this number to account for birds lost in the field.
Last year's season was cut short by Hurricane Ivan and so the figure is significantly fewer than that of 2003 when 168,945 birds were killed.
Miss Nuefville, however, said bird shooting is a form of control, as some of these birds can become nuisances and adversely affect crops.
bird shooting hours
The hours for bird shooting are on Saturdays, from sunrise to 9:00 a.m. and from 2:30 p.m. to sunset. And on Sundays from sunrise to 9:00 a.m.
Hunters may bag only 20 birds at each shoot for three approved species. For the fourth, the Bald-pate, no more than 15 may be taken in any shoot. According to NEPA, overshooting is an offence under the Wild Life Protection Act. The agency warned that hunting birds without a permit is a breach of this act and carries a maximum penalty of $100,000 and or 12 months in prison. The act also prohibits the use of a trap to catch. As for using slingshots well that's for the birds!
