Assessment of risks to wildlife and animal welfare associated with Lodden, Sami traditional hunting of ducks in spring

Source at https://vkm.no/.Spring hunting for ducks (Lodden in Northern Sami) is part of the Sami hunting and trapping culture. In Norway, this traditional hunting has been permitted in Kautokeino Municipality in accordance with the exception provision in the Wildlife Act Section 15, with quotas for males of several duck species. However, hunting in the spring may be in conflict with the Nature Diversity Act's principle for species management, saying (quote from Section 15): “Unnecessary harm and suffering caused to animals occurring in the wild and their nests, lairs and burrows shall be avoided. Likewise, unnecessary pursuing of wildlife shall be avoided.” Furthermore, in accordance with international legislation and agreements, the Wildlife Act (Section 9) states that the hunting season should not be set to the nesting and breeding season for the species in question. The Norwegian Environment Agency (NEA) asked VKM to (1) assess risk and risk-reducing measures on biodiversity and animal welfare when conducting spring hunting of ducks. The terms of reference were additionally clarified by the NEA to include assessments of the risks associated with hunting quotas of up to 150, 300, and 500 male individuals, on the populations of mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), tufted duck (Aythya fuligula), velvet scoter (Melanitta fusca), common scoter (Melanitta nigra), long-tailed duck (Clangula hyemalis), and red-breasted merganser (Mergus serrator). VKM was furthermore asked to (2) point out risk-reducing measures in scenarios with hunting bags corresponding to the mentioned quotas of all the six species. VKM, risk assessment, Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment, Norwegian Environment Agency, mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), tufted duck (Aythya fuligula), velvet scoter (Melanitta fusca), common scoter (Melanitta nigra), long-tailed duck (Clangula hyemalis), red-breasted merganser (Mergus serrator), spring hunting, LoddenpublishedVersio

Assessment of risks to wildlife and animal welfare associated with Lodden, Sami traditional hunting of ducks in spring

Spring hunting for ducks (Lodden in Northern Sami) is part of the Sami hunting and trapping culture. In Norway, this traditional hunting has been permitted in Kautokeino Municipality in accordance with the exception provision in the Wildlife Act Section 15, with quotas for males of several duck species. However, hunting in the spring may be in conflict with the Nature Diversity Act's principle for species management, saying (quote from Section 15): “Unnecessary harm and suffering caused to animals occurring in the wild and their nests, lairs and burrows shall be avoided. Likewise, unnecessary pursuing of wildlife shall be avoided.” Furthermore, in accordance with international legislation and agreements, the Wildlife Act (Section 9) states that the hunting season should not be set to the nesting and breeding season for the species in question. The Norwegian Environment Agency (NEA) asked VKM to (1) assess risk and risk-reducing measures on biodiversity and animal welfare when conducting spring hunting of ducks. The terms of reference were additionally clarified by the NEA to include assessments of the risks associated with hunting quotas of up to 150, 300, and 500 male individuals, on the populations of mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), tufted duck (Aythya fuligula), velvet scoter (Melanitta fusca), common scoter (Melanitta nigra), long-tailed duck (Clangula hyemalis), and red-breasted merganser (Mergus serrator). VKM was furthermore asked to (2) point out risk-reducing measures in scenarios with hunting bags corresponding to the mentioned quotas of all the six species. VKM, risk assessment, Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment, Norwegian Environment Agency, mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), tufted duck (Aythya fuligula), velvet scoter (Melanitta fusca), common scoter (Melanitta nigra), long-tailed duck (Clangula hyemalis), red-breasted merganser (Mergus serrator), spring hunting, LoddenpublishedVersio

Assessment of risks to wildlife and animal welfare associated with Lodden, Sami traditional hunting of ducks in spring - Scientific Opinion of the Panel on Biodiversity of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment

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Lameness and its relationship with health and production measures in broiler chickens

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Lameness and its relationship with health and production measures in broiler chickens

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A comparative study of clinical manifestations, haematological and serological responses after experimental infection with Anaplasma phagocytophilum in two Norwegian sheep breeds

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Associations between qualitative behaviour assessments and measures of leg health, fear and mortality in Norwegian broiler chicken flocks

Qualitative behavioural assessments (QBA) is an animal-based welfare measure that has been included in several on-farm welfare assessment protocols, including the Welfare Quality® (WQ) protocol for poultry. However, there is a scarcity of information about how it relates to other animal-based welfare indicators. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate the associations between QBA and selected animal-based welfare indicators commonly used for the assessment of broiler chicken welfare, i.e. lameness, foot pad dermatitis (FPD), fear of humans (touch test), and mortality. A total of 50 commercial broiler chicken farms were visited by one observer who conducted on-farm welfare assessments using the WQ protocol. Assessments were done close to the time of slaughter (between day 27 and 34). QBA was analysed using principal component analysis (PCA), revealing two main components, labelled arousal (PC1) and mood (PC2). The scores for the other welfare indicators were categorised into dichotomous (touch test) or ordinal scales (gait score, footpad dermatitis score and mortality) to deal with skewed distributions caused by homogenous data. To investigate the associations between QBA and the other welfare indicators, we ran logistic and ordinal logistic regression models with these welfare measures as outcomes, and the two components of QBA as the predictors. Significant negative associations were found between both components of QBA and the chickens’ fear of humans, as measured using the touch test. In other words, flocks with higher scores on both mood and arousal were less likely to have any chickens that were possible to touch by the assessor. A possible interpretation of these associations is that both QBA components may indicate greater liveliness in birds that did not accept to be touched by the observer. Flocks with a higher arousal score, as measured by the first component of QBA (PC1), were also less likely to be in a higher mortality category. For the other selected animal-based measures, there were no associations with QBA. We conclude that QBA needs thorough validation for the routine use in the assessment of broiler chicken welfare, but that the method may provide useful supplementary information in overall welfare assessments. This information may be particularly valuable in a production system, like the broiler industry, where management is highly standardised, sometimes resulting in little between-flock variation in other welfare measures.acceptedVersio

Comparison of flock characteristics, journey duration and pathology between flocks with a normal and a high percentage of broilers 'dead-on-arrival' at abattoirs

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An evaluation of two different broiler catching methods

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Effect of energy allowance to triplet-bearing ewes in late gestation on ewe performance, lamb viability, and growth

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