The Department of Agriculture of the Generalitat plans to decrease the hunting population of rabbits through high-pressure actions, continued over time, and with the direct participation of its own teams in the areas where a particularly high overabundance of these animals has been detected, according to a statement made this Thursday.
The new strategy takes as a reference a pilot model developed in Verdú (Lleida), within the population control plan for rabbits in areas with the highest presence, such as the plain of Lleida. In this trial, 48 interventions have been carried out that have allowed the capture of 7,908 specimens in 17 days.
According to the director of the territorial services of the Department of Agriculture in Lleida, the program has obtained "positive" results in reducing the population of these animals, and he has indicated that it has been proposed to agricultural organizations to maintain this type of operations with stable, sustained, and area-adapted planning.
These actions will be added to the system that has been applied so far, through which farmers report damage to crops via a computer application, and subsequently, the hunting teams of the administration intervene.
In the pilot test, seven hunters and farmers have collaborated, while the department has made available to the device three 'pick-up' vehicles, a drone, 18 specialist technicians in hunting control, and 1 drone pilot.