As I drive my car along small, winding roads in central Zealand, I encounter hundreds of pheasants running wild on the roads and only reluctantly allowing themselves to be pushed back to the edge of the forest. The pheasants are part of the massive releases that take place every year in selected areas to increase hunting opportunities.
The number of birds released in Denmark
In 2021, 958,358 pheasants, 78,163 mallards and 10,142 partridges were released into the Danish countryside. The birds are not released to strengthen the wild populations of the three species, but to have more birds to hunt. But is it ethical to increase the number of birds in this way for the sole purpose of having more targets to shoot at?
The role of hunting and ethical dilemmas
In general, there is a very positive attitude towards hunting in Denmark, and hunting is considered an effective tool for regulating game populations. However, many also believe that you should only harvest from nature’s own surplus and that it is not okay to create an artificial surplus for the sole purpose of shooting it away again. After all, hunting endangered birds is not about putting more meat on the table. If that were the case, the pheasants and ducks would have been slaughtered directly from the aviaries they were raised in.
The artificial link in the cull
Culls introduce an extra link in the process from the hatching of the chicks until they land on the dinner table – purely for the sake of hunting. Or as the Animal Ethical Council’s statement on hunting from 2010 puts it: “The chickens are raised as domestic animals, but afterwards they must live as wild animals for the purpose of hunting.” This is not okay. Read the rest of the post at Kristeligt Dagblad.
