Illicit feeding sites endanger Cyprus mouflon and hares

Some hunters in Cyprus are turning to illegal feeding stations and unauthorized hunting-spot markers to boost their catches, a move officials say harms the wildlife they aim to attract. One tactic sees them scattering wheat, corn, vetch, beans and pistachios across open countryside to draw game, especially wood pigeon, during the ongoing hunting season. . . . . . A second tactic has hunters claiming spots days ahead by fastening wooden pallets and other markers to trees, even when they aren’t on site. Later arrivals who disregard these claims risk confrontations, as the original claimants treat the area as their own and order others away. . . . . . Authorities have informed the Cyprus Federation of Hunting & Wildlife Conservation that they will confiscate and destroy both the spot‑marking materials and the feeders. . . . . . Law‑abiding hunters call the practices dishonest, saying they damage the community’s reputation and fuel serious friction, leading to clashes and arguments between those who stake spots or set feeders and those who oppose them, who insist that traditional hunting ethics are based on equal opportunity, not the illegal occupation of public land or the trapping of tamed game. . . . . . Game and Fauna Service spokesperson Petros Anagiotou noted that while supplying water helps, feeders pose serious risks. Authorities detect, monitor and destroy illegal feeders, he said, adding that hunters using them don’t grasp the damage: any short‑term boost in catch exacts a long‑term cost on the species, because concentrating animals in one spot erases their natural dispersal. Biologically, artificial feeding sites act as ecological traps with severe epidemiological fallout. In the wild, animals spread out to forage, which sharply limits contact among different individuals and species. . . . . . The unnatural crowding of birds and other animals at artificial feeders is creating serious health problems for Cypriot wildlife, forcing species with completely different biological needs — birds, rodents and ruminants — into the same confined space. Animals normally tailor their diet to the weather, but giving them food unsuited to those conditions can trigger serious health problems, even death. . . . . . Hares and the Cyprus mouflon are directly affected. Sudden intake of carbohydrate‑rich foods like wheat and corn triggers stomach acidosis in ruminants, wiping out the microflora in their digestive tracts — an almost always fatal outcome. Grain left in heat and humidity also produces dangerous, carcinogenic aflatoxins. Animals lose their wild instincts, while feeding stations draw poachers and natural predators such as foxes, whose natural wariness of humans diminishes, undermining their role as ecosystem regulators. . . . . . A proposal to shift the hunting season has sparked dispute. The Forestry Department is preparing to propose moving the season from August to September, a suggestion the Game and Fauna Service says it will examine. The summer hunting season began on August 23, 2026, amid high temperatures, red‑alert conditions for forest fires and sharp disagreement among the bodies involved. At the centre of the dispute is the Forestry Department’s plan to propose to the Interior Ministry that the season’s start be moved from August to early or mid‑September because of weather conditions, a suggestion that drew immediate pushback from the Game and Fauna Service and the Cyprus Federation of Hunting & Wildlife Conservation. The Forestry Department intends to submit its proposal to the Interior Ministry as soon as possible, aiming for a decision before next summer. Its main argument centres on extreme weather in August: according to a department representative, staff already on alert because of red warnings must also deploy additional personnel in forests to monitor hunters. The department also points to the risk of ecosystem damage, as seen in past major fires that destroyed game and habitats. The Game and Fauna Service said it was annoyed at how the issue came to light, noting it learned of the proposal through the media rather than through any official communication. Anagiotou said setting the start of the hunting season is the Service’s exclusive responsibility, not the Forestry Department’s. He said the presence of around 18,000 hunters in the mountains acts as a deterrent against wrongdoing and helps with early fire detection, and confirmed the Service is willing to consider the Forestry Department’s written proposal once it is formally submitted. According to the Game and Fauna Service, legislation enacted in 2003 on the Protection and Management of Wild Birds and Game bars the Council of Ministers from setting any hunting season between March 1 and August 15 each year. . . . . . Hunters deny any link to wildfires. The Cyprus Federation of Hunting & Wildlife Conservation said hunters are often the first on the scene during destructive fires, working to protect habitats and sometimes risking their own safety. The Federation said there is no evidence hunters have sparked fires, citing Forestry Department statistics that show hunting‑related fires are extremely rare, at 1.5%. The Federation also noted it backs firefighting with more than 40 volunteer vehicles and dismissed any connection between hunters and fire‑starting, urging the Forestry Department to produce documented proof of such a link before any dialogue.