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Catalans to hunt wild boar with bows and arrows

Population control à la Robin Hood

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The Catalan authorities have raised a few eyebrows with a plan to hunt wild boar with bows and arrows.

The powers that insist that the boars in the Parque Natural de Collserola have become a serious headache, with a burgeoning population increasingly making forays into neighbouring Barcelona.*

The problem is that the park is a protected area, in which the use of firearms is strictly prohibited.

Accordingly, the Catalan government is planning a "pilot scheme" to cull excess boars à la Robin Hood, defending that it's the "only effective control method".

Those wishing to try their hand at downing a jabalí with a bow will require a special permission which is "very restrictive" in terms of safety rules and limits on when and where the hunting is allowed.

The plan has not gone down well with animal rights groups. La Asociación en Defensa de los Animales (Animal Defence Association) declared: "Hunting with bow and arrow is a medieval practice which involves a slow and painful death."

The association reckons it's "surprising that Catalonia is allowing hunting with bow and arrow at the same time that it's establishing itself as a society at the forefront of animal rights".

This is a reference to Catalonia's controversial decision to ban bullfighting, although many consider that simply a political move designed to underline that Catalans are less Spanish than the rest of Spain. ®

Boarnote

*In 2009, there were 199 "incidents" involving wild boar penetrating the Barcelona suburbs. Between January and September 2010, this jumped to 540, meaning roughly a threefold increase in incursions for the year as a whole.

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Sounds reasonable to me

Hardly a "medieval" practice. Animals have been hunted with bows for thousands of years, right up to the present day.

I'm an archer - not a bowhunter - but it is a common misconception that bowhunting is cruel and always leads to quarry suffering a slow and painful death. Bowhunting - if performed under licence and with careful regulation and education - is a perfectly responsible and reasonable method of putting food on the table and contributing to population control of wild animals.

There are many other benefits - other animals aren't disturbed by gunfire; the range of an arrow is significantly lower than a rifle bullet, so the risk to passersby is greatly reduced; it's much more difficult to get within range to make a kill, thus reducing the chances of overhunting; and so on.

As long as it's properly regulated, good luck to them.

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Anonymous Coward

Broadhead

I take it they have never seen the damage a well placed broadhead can do, but then why use facts when histiria gets so much more attention.

Man I hate these groups.

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Could be

> which involves a slow and painful death.

Especially if you miss - boars are nasty buggers up close

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