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Understanding long-term hunting statistics:
the case of Spain (1972-2007)
M. Martinez-Jauregui1*, C. Arenas2and A. C. Herruzo2
1 CIFOR-INIA. Ctra. A Coruña, km 7,5. 28040 Madrid. Spain
2 ETSI Montes. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. Ciudad Universitaria, s/n. 28040 Madrid. Spain
Abstract
Hunting is assuming a growing role in the current European forestry and agroforestry landscape. However, consistent
statistical sources that provide quantitative information for policy-making, planning and management of game resources
are often lacking. In addition, in many instances statistical information can be used without sufficient evaluation or
criticism. Recently, the European Commission has declared the importance of high quality hunting statistics and the
need to set up a common scheme in Europe for their collection, interpretation and proper use. This work aims to
contribute to this current debate on hunting statistics in Europe by exploring data from the last 35 years of Spanish
hunting statistics. The analysis focuses on the three major pillars underpinning hunting activity: hunters, hunting
grounds and game animals. First, the study aims to provide a better understanding of official hunting statistics for use
by researchers, game managers and other potential users. Second, the study highlights the major strengths and
weaknesses of the statistical information that was collected. The results of the analysis indicate that official hunting
statistics can be incomplete, dispersed and not always homogeneous over a long period of time. This is an issue of
which one should be aware when using official hunting data for scientific or technical work. To improve statistical
deficiencies associated with hunting data in Spain, our main suggestion is the adoption of a common protocol on data
collection to which different regions agree. This protocol should be in accordance with future European hunting
statistics and based on robust and well-informed data collection methods. Also it should expand the range of biological,
ecological and economic concepts currently included to take account of the profound transformations experienced by
the hunting sector in recent years. As much as possible, any future changes in the selection of hunting statistics should
allow for comparisons between new variables with the previous ones.
Key words: hunting; licenses; hunters; ranches; captures.
Resumen
Estadísticas oficiales de caza: el caso de España (1972-2007)
La caza está cobrando un creciente protagonismo en los terrenos forestales y agroforestales europeos actuales. Por
ello, resulta esencial contar con unas fuentes estadísticas consistentes, en muchos casos inexistentes, que proporcio-
nen la información cuantitativa necesaria para la elaboración de políticas, la planificación y la gestión de los recur-
sos cinegéticos disponibles. La Unión Europea ha manifestado recientemente el interés por la mejora de las estadís-
ticas de caza y la necesidad de establecer un protocolo común europeo para la recogida y uso de las estadísticas de
caza. Este trabajo pretende contribuir al debate sobre las mejora de las estadísticas de caza europeas mediante un aná-
lisis crítico de las estadísticas oficiales nacionales de caza en España en los últimos 35 años. El análisis se centra so-
bre los tres grandes pilares que sustentan a la actividad cinegética: los cazadores, los terrenos y los ejemplares cine-
géticos abatidos. En concreto, se facilita a investigadores, gestores y demás usuarios una mejor comprensión de la
estadística oficial de la caza y, en segundo lugar, se ponen de relieve sus principales fortalezas y debilidades. Los re-
sultados obtenidos indican que la estadística oficial de la caza en España es incompleta, se encuentra dispersa y no es
homogénea a lo largo del periodo de estudio; hechos a tener en cuenta a la hora de utilizar estos datos. En consecuen-
cia, en este trabajo se aclaran conceptos de la información disponible y se proponen posibles mejoras en la estadísti-
ca cinegética que permitan contribuir en el futuro a un mejor conocimiento del sector. La principal medida que se pro-
pone es la adopción de un protocolo común de recogida de información para las diferentes regiones de España, que
un fututo debería estar coordinado con los avances de las estadísticas de caza europeos. Este protocolo debería ba-
* Corresponding author: martinez.maria@inia.es
Received: 24-09-10; Accepted: 11-02-11.
Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA) Forest Systems 2011 20(1), 139-150
Available online at www.inia.es/forestsystems ISSN: 1131-7965
eISSN: 2171-9845
Introduction
Hunting has acquired significant economic and
environmental importance in recent decades in the con-
text of growing social demand in Europe (Díaz et al.,
2008). Due to the increase in the quality of life expe-
rienced in most industrialized societies, hunting, and
especially big-game hunting, has become a luxury ex-
panding activity. These changes in the demand for hun-
ting may be one of the factors that have led to dramatic
increases in ungulates in Europe during the past several
decades (Milner et al., 2006). There have also been
supply factors affecting hunting populations, such as
the transformation of agricultural practices, institutio-
nal changes and biological factors (Ortuño, 1970; López,
1986; Delibes-Mateos et al., 2009; Vargas et al., 2006).
Some species, particularly deer and wild boar, have
become the main animal species in forestry and agrofo-
restry systems (San Miguel, 1994; Carranza, 1999),
and, throughout Europe these species commonly provi-
de an important economic activity but also growing
concerns (Côté et al., 2004; Mysterud, 2010). This
situation has implications for the economic, cultural
and environmental changes taking place in rural areas.
Hunting must be considered in the conservation and
management of natural resources in rural areas. This
requires, in turn, precise and extensive statistical infor-
mation on which to base possible indices and actions.
In this sense, official hunting statistics are an important
analytical tool for our society. They help decision-makers
learn more about the economic, ecological and social
situation of this sector. As a result, hunting statis-
tics are essential for developing policies and effective
planning and management of available hunting resour-
ces. Since the late 20th century, hunting legislation has
explicitly reflected the importance of statistical infor-
mation for the sound management of hunting resources
(e.g., from the late 1980s in Spain: Ley 4/1989, de 27
de marzo, sobre Conservación de Espacios Naturales
y de la Fauna y Flora; Ley 43/2003, de 21 de noviem-
bre, de Montes; y Ley 42/2007, de 13 de diciembre, del
Patrimonio Natural y de la Biodiversidad). Recently, the
European Commission (Athens on 3rd June 2006) has
declared the importance of high quality hunting bag
statistics and the need to set up a common scheme in
Europe for the collection, scientific interpretation and
proper use of hunting statistics (http://ec.europa.eu/
environment/nature/conservation/wildbirds/hunting/
index_en.htm, consulted in February 2011). However,
despite the legislative efforts, hunting resources remain
less well-known than other products and forest resour-
ces (forest, timber or livestock production), and the
available statistical information on hunting has been
scarce and scattered (Apollonio et al., 2010). The diff i-
culty of obtaining information on a national scale has
been exacerbated by the complexity of hunting due to
the different types of hunting, the large amount of
species involved and the heterogeneity in hunting grounds
and management practices. All of this has contributed
to hunting being relegated to second place in the
decision-making process concerning the production or
protective role of forests (e.g., for wood and other natu-
ral resources). Hence, it is important to obtain accurate
statistics that will allow us to better describe and un-
derstand this sector.
Unlike other forest resources, and with the exception
of information on foreign trade of meat (the database
of statistics of EUROSTAT, FAO and FAOSTAT), hun-
ting does not have a source of official statistics at the
international scale. The absence of a shared internatio-
nal statistical protocol for hunting makes national hun-
ting statistical data very heterogeneous and often diffi-
cult to compare, not only because of the type of
information collected, but also because of the metho-
dology employed to obtain it. For example, in France,
Austria and Hungary, data on the demographic compo-
sition of captured big game (males, females and calves)
is available, while in other European countries, such
as Spain, Germany or Poland, this information is not
available (Milner et al., 2006).
Despite the limitations of hunting statistics, we find
studies on the hunting sector that, for decades, have
depended on them. For example, in Spain these studies
have been carried out both in the social sciences, such
as studies by López Ontiveros (1986), Cecilia and
Martínez (1986), or Fernández-Cavada et al. (2008),
140 M. Martinez-Jauregui et al. / Forest Systems (2011) 20(1), 139-150
sarse en una metodología consolidada y adaptarse a las profundas transformaciones experimentadas por el sector de
la caza en los últimos años, tanto desde un punto de vista biológico como ecológico y económico. No obstante, se
quiere resaltar que los cambios presentes y futuros de las estadísticas deberían siempre permitir las comparaciones
entre las nuevas variables y las anteriores.
Palabras clave: cinegética; licencia; cazador; terreno; coto; captura.
and in biology and the natural sciences, e.g., Virgos et
al. (2007). Over time, authors have been paying less
attention to the analysis and assessment of the statis-
tical sources used. In particular, we have detected re-
duced criticism about the significance and meaning of
the collected variables, data quality and their reliability.
This could lead to erroneous interpretations of the sta-
tistical information available, leading to inappropriate
outcomes and conclusions.
The above situation suggests the need for studies
such as this one that gathers, systematizes, analyzes and
provides an in-depth evaluation of hunting statistics.
Our main objective is to provide information and dis-
cussion for the current debate on the improvement of
European hunting statistics as has been pointed out by
the European Commission. To achieve this objective
we first aim to facilitate a better understanding of offi-
cial Spanish hunting data for researchers and other
users. Second, we highlight the strengths and weak-
nesses of the currently used Spanish hunting statistics.
We also suggest realistic remedies to some limitations
of the statistics that we think could be easily introduced
in the near future in order to contribute to a better
understanding of the hunting sector and, consequently,
provide better tools for its management. This work fo-
cuses on official Spanish hunting statistics in the
period 1972-2007. This period was chosen for two rea-
sons. First, it was from 1972 onwards that Spanish hun-
ting statistics were systematically produced and the
number of measured variables expanded (MA, 1973-
1981b). Second, it was also during this period that the
current Spanish hunting and game management model
took shape. This study focuses on statistical data rela-
ting to the three cornerstones that underpin hunting:
hunters, hunting grounds and wild game captures.
Material and methods
Sources for hunting statistics
In the first half of the 20th century, the collection of
statistical information on hunting in Spain was scarce
and was not characterized by a systematic approach.
The first explicit official hunting information in Spain
appeared in 1923 (INE, 1923). In 1936, the «Ministerio
de Agricultura Industria y Comercio» published data
on hunting licenses related to the period from 1930-
1934 (Pardo, 1936). From 1940, statistical resources
included a section on hunting in the annual reports of
the «Dirección General de Montes, Caza y Pesca Fluvial»
(MA, 1955). More recently, i.e., since 1965, game in-
formation began to be quantitative and more systematic
(MA, 1956-1972; MA, 1973-1981b; MAPA, 1982-
1984; MAPA, 1985-1988). It should also be mentioned
that hunting guides have been edited by the «Ministe-
rio de Información y Turismo» since 1960; the guide
corresponding to 1969 presented comprehensive infor-
mation on hunting species, methods of hunting and
hunting grounds (MIT, 1969). In addition, hunting trophy
catalogues have been continuously published since the
early 1950s and contain data on trophy scores and awards
of the species hunted (MA, 1951, 1959, 1960, 1962,
1973, 1979; MAPA, 1988, 1994, 1999; MARM, 2004).
However, it was not until the 1970s when an impor-
tant advance in the official statistics of hunting in Spain
took place. During this period, the collection of infor-
mation was standardized and the number of variables
was expanded to include hunting licenses, hunting
grounds and captures. From 1972 to 2003, the core of
these statistics were published in the yearbooks of agri-
cultural and food statistics of the «Ministerio de Agri-
cultura» (AEA) (MA, 1973-1981a; MAPA, 1982-1999;
MAPA, 2000-2004) and in the following years until
2007 in the yearbooks of forestry statistics (AEF)
(MARM, 2009). Additional information on hunting
arms has been provided in the statistical yearbooks of
the «Ministerio de Interior» (AEMI) (MI, 1995-2008).
Hunting trophies were described in hunting trophy
catalogues (MA, 1973, 1979; MAPA, 1988, 1994, 1999;
MARM, 2004). Foreign trade statistics published by
the «Ministerio de Economía y Hacienda» include
information on game meat trade at the national level
(MH, 1973-2008). In recent years, some Autonomous
Communities have also published regional hunting
statistics. A brief characterization of the main statis-
tical sources is provided in Table 1.
Currently, hunting statistics in Spain are included
in the National Statistical Plan 2009-2012 (Real
Decreto 1663/2008 of 17 October) that includes, among
many other statistics, those that are aimed at the evalua-
tion of hunting products and additional economic bene-
fits of this activity. These statistics are integrated in
the Bank of Biodiversity Data.
Analysis
All variables related to the Spanish hunting sector
found in official statistical sources have been studied.
Understanding long-term hunting statistics: the case of Spain (1972-2007) 141
142 M. Martinez-Jauregui et al. / Forest Systems (2011) 20(1), 139-150
Table 1. Characterization of the main official statistical sources available for the hunting sector
Agricultural Statistics Yearbook (AEA)
Available dates: 1972-2003, 2005 and 2006, although the 2005 and
2006 data are taken from the AEF.
Frequency: Annual.
Source: Ministerio de Agricultura in its various incarnations over
time, now Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Medio Rural y Marino.
Aim: Food and agricultural activity.
General difficulties: Lack of information on the methodology of da-
ta collection and explicit definitions. Lack of data in 2004. Digital
since 1996.
Thematic areas:
— Historical series and regional analysis of game hunting licenses
issued.
— Hunting grounds.
— Number, weight and meat value of game animals shot. Regio-
nal analysis.
— Number of game-farms (only available for 1972).
Reports on Activities of the National Institute
for the Conservation of Nature (M)
Available dates: 1972-1983.
Frequency: Annual.
Source: National Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICONA).
Ministerio de Agricultura or Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Ali-
mentación.
Aim: Forest activity.
General difficulties: Not available in digital format. Very hetero-
geneous information.
Thematic areas:
— Historical series, regional analysis of hunting licenses issued,
distinguishing rates and surcharges.
— Number and area occupied of the different types of hunting grounds
subject to special arrangement. Additional information is someti-
mes available as the number of game preserves dedicated to big
game or small game, restocking, expenses and incomes, Hunter
hour periods, hunting methods, trophy awards granted, etc.
— Number of hunting grounds, their animal inventory and pro-
duction.
Statistical Yearbook of the Regional Environment
Services
Available dates: Varies by Autonomous Community.
Frequency: Variable.
Source: Regional Environmental Services.
General difficulties: Diversity and heterogeneity in the databases
of the various Autonomous Communities.
Forest Statistics Yearbook (AEF)
Available dates: 2005, 2006 and 2007.
Frequency: Annual.
Source: Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Medio Rural y Marino.
Aim: Forest activity.
General difficulties: Lack of information on the methodology of da-
ta collection and explicit definitions. Available data only until 2007.
There is a significant delay in the statistics.
Thematic areas:
— Historical series and regional analysis of hunting licenses issued.
— Hunting grounds (2005 is not available).
— Number, weight and meat value of game animals shot. Regio-
nal analysis.
— Regional analysis of restocking (not available for 2005).
— Number of game-farms (not available for 2005).
— Hunting species production (not available for 2005).
Reports about Forestry and Nature Preservation (M)
Available dates: 1984-1987.
Frequency: Annual.
Source: Regional Services of agriculture and environment and Na-
tional Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICONA). Ministe-
rio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación.
Aim: Forest activity.
General difficulties: Not available in digital format. Information is
incomplete (missing data from some Autonomous Communities).
Very heterogeneous information.
Thematic areas:
— Historical series, regional analysis of hunting licenses issued,
distinguishing rates and surcharges.
— Number and area occupied of the different types of lands sub-
ject to special arrangement. Sometimes additional information
is available as the number of game preserves dedicated to big
game or small game, or expenses and incomes.
— Number of hunter days, number of big-game and small-game
captures associated with different hunting grounds.
Statisctical Yearbook of the Ministry of Interior (AEMI)
Available dates: 1989-2007.
Frequency: Annual.
Source: Ministerio de Interior.
Aim: Various essential legal and social aspects.
General difficulties: Digital format available since 1998. Informa-
tion related to hunting only from 1994.
Thematic areas:
— Hunting weapon licenses.
— Hunting firearms certificates.
The meaning of these variables has been clarified, the
methodologies of data collection have been assessed
and the consistency of the data series has been analyzed.
Results
Hunting licenses, hunting weapons licenses
and hunting arms certificates
Hunters are one of the three constitutive elements
of hunting, along with hunting grounds and game. In
Spain, there is no nationwide register of hunters, so
the number of hunters has to be estimated indirectly
through information provided by hunting licenses,
hunting weapon licenses and hunting arms certificates
(guías de armas).
Annual information on hunting licenses includes:
number of licenses issued, license fees and number of
renewed licenses (licenses issued in previous years but
still active in the current year). In Spain, nobody can
carry or own firearms without legal authorization, and
a hunting weapon license is required for hunting fire-
arms. This authorization is mandatory and non-transfe-
rable to other hunters. In addition, it is mandatory for
hunting firearms to be registered at the Ministry of
Interior and firearms are also subject to regular controls
and revisions.
This information is not homogeneous over the study
period due to the data collection procedures and changes
in the definitions of variables (Table 2).
Hunting grounds
Recent legislation regulating hunting grounds in
Spain include the «Hunting law» of 4 April 1970 (Ley
1/1970) and the Decree of 25 March 1971 (Decreto
506/1971). These pieces of legislation established two
types of hunting areas: (1) hunting grounds of common
use, where hunting could take place during permitted
seasons with no other limitations besides the possession
of valid hunting and firearms licenses and other basic
legal restrictions; and (2) hunting grounds subject to
special arrangements, which included among them
several types of game states (private, social, local and
national game states), areas subject to hunting control
schemes, national hunting reserves, hunting game refu-
ges as well as national parks.
The integration of Spain into the European Economic
Community (1986) implied changes in Spanish hunting
legislation (Ley 4/1989, de 27 de marzo, de Conserva-
ción de los Espacios Naturales y de la Flora y Fauna
Silvestre and Ley 42/2007, de 13 de diciembre, del Pa-
trimonio Natural y de la Biodiversidad). Since the
1980s, the transferring of legal responsibility in the
field of hunting to the Autonomous Communities has
also produced an intense regional legislative process.
Most Autonomous Communities have enacted regional
hunting laws incorporating the new requirements on the
use and conservation of nature. This has normally led
to new classifications of hunting grounds in each region.
Variables that describe hunting territories in official
Spanish statistics are generally limited to the number
and area occupied by the different types of hunting
grounds. However, in the period 1972-1987, more de-
tailed information is available concerning some of these
hunting territories, although the data are more irregular
and heterogeneous. For example, the number of indivi-
duals introduced, captured or the number of hunting
permits associated within a hunting territory (MA,
1973-1981b; MAPA, 1982-1984; MAPA, 1985-1988)
are available. This latest information is not included
in Table 3.
Harvest estimates
One of the key aspects of interest in the study of the
hunting sector is the number of game animals shot, as
Understanding long-term hunting statistics: the case of Spain (1972-2007) 143
Table 1 (cont.). Characterization of the main official statistical sources available for the hunting sector
Catalogues of Game Trophies
Available dates: 1975-2000.
Frequency: Multi-annual (1988, 1994, 1999 and 2004).
Source: Game trophies homologation board.
Aim: Game trophy awards approved in Spain.
General difficulties: Difficulties in locating the area of preceden-
ce of trophies.
Thematic areas: Game trophies awarded and scores.
International Trade Statistics Yearbooks
Available dates: Prior to 1972 to the present day.
Frequency: Annual.
Source: Directorate General of customs. Ministerio de Economía y
Hacienda.
Aim: Record foreign trade statistics.
General difficulties: Changes in nomenclature headings over time.
Thematic areas: Imports and exports of game meat.
they are the final object of hunting. What is more, each
game animal shot entails costs and returns, as animals
are alive in the forest before being hunted, and in turn
revenues may also be derived from their capture, such
as the sale of goods (meat, trophies) and services
(commercial hunting). In addition, utility may also be
derived from non-commercial recreational hunting
(hunting self-consumption).
Information about harvests of game animals gathered
in the official Spanish statistics include the quantity
of animals shot, the quality of trophies, economic va-
riables and game meat purchase and sold in foreign
trade. In particular, the variables for which official
information is provided are the following: (a) shot
animals: number and total carcass weight; (b) trophies:
number, scores and awards (medallas); (c) value of
meat from shot animals; (d) complementary revenues:
income received by the use of land in hunting, excluding
the value of game meat and (e) game meat trade: weight
and value of exports and imports of game animal meat.
This information comes from various sources and is
not homogeneous across time (Table 4). Apart from
the sources described in these Tables, there is supple-
mentary information for the period 1972-1987 (MA,
1973-1981b; MAPA, 1982-1984; MAPA, 1985-1988).
Discussion
Hunters
Until the Autonomous Communities began to issue
their own hunting licenses in the late 1980s (entitled
by Ley 4/1989, de 27 de marzo, de Conservación de
los Espacios Naturales y de la Flora y Fauna Silves-
tres), it was possible to accurately approximate the
number of hunters nationwide by the number of
national licenses issued. Since then, it has been ne-
cessary to hold more than one hunting license to hunt
across Spain. Thus, statistical figures on the number
144 M. Martinez-Jauregui et al. / Forest Systems (2011) 20(1), 139-150
Table 2. Main information available in official Spanish sources on hunting licenses, surcharges, hunting weapon licenses
and hunting firearms certificates
Scale Years Official
Variables variable** of collected statistic
information source
Number of hunting licenses issued
1
Regional and national 1972
2
, 1973-2002, 2003
3
, M, AEA y AEF
2005-2007 M, AEA y AEF
Number of hunting licenses issued by license type
4
Regional and national 1973-1989 M, AEA
Surcharges to hunting licenses issued
5
Regional and national 1975-1987 M
Economic value of hunting licenses issued Regional and national 1972-2002, 2005-2007 M, AEA y AEF
Economic value of hunting licenses issued by license typ
4
Regional and national 1973, 1984, 1988, 1989 M
6
, AEA
Economic value of surcharges to hunting licenses issued
5
Regional and national 1984 M
Number of renewed hunting license
6
Regional and national 2005-2007 AEA y AEF
Economic value of valid hunting licenses
6
Regional and national 2005-2007 AEA y AEF
Number of rifle and shotgun with rifled barrel licenses National 1994-2007 AEMI
issued and renewed
Number of smoothbore shotguns and rimfire rifles issued National 1994-2007 AEMI
and renewed
Number of weapons active by weapon type National 1994-2007 AEMI
1In most sources (M and AEA), a historic number of hunting licenses issued nationwide is provided. The oldest date collected is
1948. 2In 1972 there is only data at the national scale. 3In 2003 there is only information available about the number of hunting
licenses issued at the national scale. 4A Type A license is for hunting by any authorized process including firearms; a Type B li-
cense is for hunting with any approved procedure except with firearms and a Type C license is for any procedure requiring speci-
fic authorization. 5Before the transfer of responsibilities for the regulation of hunting to the Autonomous Communities, surchar-
ges were needed at the national scale for some types of hunting. 6Renewed licenses issued in previous years but still active in the
current year. M: reports on activities of the National Institute for the Conservation of Nature and reports about forestry and natu-
re preservation. AEA: Agricultural Statistics Yearbook. AEF: Forest Statistics Yearbook. AEMI: Statistical Yearbook of the Ministry
of Interior.
of hunting licenses issued at the national scale do not
currently reflect the actual number of hunters in Spain.
However, for the same reason, it is possible to identify
the number of people (local, national and foreign) hunting
in one Autonomous Community from the number of
active licenses issued in that Autonomous Community.
Understanding long-term hunting statistics: the case of Spain (1972-2007) 145
Table 3. Main information available about hunting grounds subject to special arrangement for the period 1972-2007
Variable
Years collected
Classification of hunting grounds of collected for each Information Official
information type of scale source
hunting
ground
National hunting reserves, national hunting states, social hunting states, 1972 Number National M, AEA
private hunting states, local hunting states, hunting controlled zones
(in charge of the ICONA), hunting controlled zones (in charge Area National M, AEA
of corporate partners) and refuges of hunting.
National hunting reserves, national hunting states, social hunting states, 1973 Number Regional M, AEA
private hunting states and local hunting states and national
Area National M
National hunting reserves, national hunting states, social hunting states, 1974-19851, Number Regional M, AEA
private hunting states, local hunting states, hunting controlled zones 1986-20031and national
(in charge of the ICONA, hunter societies or Autonomous Communities)
and refuges of hunting. 1974-19911Area National M, AEA
National hunting reserves, private hunting states, regional-local hunting 2006 Number Regional AEA, AEF
states, social hunting states, social-sportive hunting states, local-sportive and 2007 and national
hunting states, intensive hunting states, refuge of fauna, game refuge, Area Regional AEA, AEF
hunting controlled zones and security areas and national
M: reports on activities of the National Institute for the Conservation of Nature and reports about forestry and nature preservation. AEA:
Agricultural Statistics Yearbook. AEF: Forest Statistics Yearbook. 1Since 1984, information in many years has not been updated.
Table 4. Main information available on shot animals for the period 1972-2007
Classification of shot animals Variables Level of detail Years of collected
and information scale information
Up to 2003:
Deer, wild boar, hare, rabbit, partridge,
quail, other big game, other game sma-
ller mammals and other game birds.
From 2005:
Deer, roe deer, Spanish ibex, fallow deer,
mouflon, Barbary sheep, wild boar, hare,
rabbit, partridge, quail, other big game,
other game smaller mammals and other
game birds1
All the species available
Number
Carcass weight
Value of game meat
Complementary
revenues
Trophy
information3: score
and awards
Regional and by species
National and by species
Regional regardless of
species
Regional and by species
National and by species
Regional regardless of
species
Regional and by species
National and by species
Regional regardless of
species
National and by species2
By regions and species
1973-2003, 2005-2007
1973-2003, 2005-2007
1975-2003, 2005-2006
1988-2003, 2005-2006
1974-2003, 2005-2006
1972-2003, 2005-2006
1988-2003, 2005-2006
1973-2003, 2005-2006
1988-2003
1973-2003, 2005
1975-20063
1In 2006 and 2007, more species are considered. 2Number of regions that do not declare the complementary revenues increase
over time. 3Information relating to the years 2001-2006 is preliminary because the trophy catalogue is still in development.
It is important to note that until the early 1990s,
hunting licenses in Spain were only valid for the year
that they were issued. This suggests that the number
of hunting licenses issued in one year coincided with
the number of active hunting licenses. However, shortly
thereafter in some Autonomous Communities it was
possible to obtain hunting licenses for periods longer
than one year. For example, in Castilla-La-Mancha this
was possible starting in 1993, and in La Rioja, this was
possible beginning in 1994. This new situation regar-
ding the concession of hunting licenses posed a pro-
blem in interpreting official statistics for more than a
decade, as the number of hunting licenses published
annually in the AEA (1972-2003) referred exclusively
to the license issues in that year and not to the number
of active licenses, which also included previously
issued licenses. Fortunately, this deficiency has been
remedied since 2005, and now the variables «active
licenses» and «issued licenses» are distinguished in
the AEF. This problem that derived from failing to
consider both variables can be illustrated by looking
at the data corresponding to 2005. According to AEF,
during that year the number of hunting licenses issued
was 1,069,804 licenses, while the number of active
hunting licenses amounted to 1,654,308. By only looking
at issued licenses, the number of hunters is reduced to
64% of the actual number. The recent movement
towards promoting a single hunting license for groups
of Autonomous Communities (such as Cataluña, Cas-
tilla y León, Aragón, Andalucía, Baleares and Valencia
in 2009) may create new difficulties for identifying the
actual number of hunters in Spain.
Information published on hunting licenses in Spain
does not allow for a clear distinction to be made between
big-game hunters and small-game hunters. In some
Autonomous Communities, this distinction has been
attempted for the latest years of data available (e.g., in
Extremadura, Andalucía, Castilla-La-Mancha and Ba-
leares). For previous years, there is scattered informa-
tion on surcharges added to hunting licenses for hun-
ting with firearms. These surcharges indicate those
hunters that are interested in the most commercial
types of hunting (big-game hunting, small-game driving
hunting, e.g., ojeos, and waterfowl hunting) (MA 1973-
1981b; MAPA, 1982-1984; MAPA, 1985-1988). The
best information for ascertaining broad tendencies in
big-game and small-game hunting comes from the data
on hunting firearm licenses issued by the «Ministerio
de Interior», although these data are restricted to the
period 1994-2007. The «Ministerio de Interior» yearbook
provides data on the number of hunting firearm licen-
ses issued every year and distinguishes between
different types of firearms. There are two main types
of hunting gun licenses: (1) those for rifles and shot-
guns with rifled barrels used for big-game hunting
(armas rayada) and (2) those for smoothbore shotguns
and rimfire rifles, such as the .22 long rifle, that are
mostly used for small-game hunting. However, this
data also presents interpretation problems as shotguns
may also be used for wildboard hunting. Thus, distin-
guishing between both types of hunting, big-game or
small-game, by looking at the number of firearms
licenses is not so clear. Finally, it must also be conside-
red that having a hunting weapon license or certificate
does not necessarily indicate that the hunter is active
during that year.
Hunting grounds
Available information in the AEA (1973-2003) on
hunting grounds is incomplete. First, no information
is provided about the total area covered by hunting
grounds of common use. Second, although at the na-
tional scale there are data on the total area occupied
by the hunting grounds subject to special arrange-
ments, rarely is that information available at the pro-
vincial or Autonomous Community scale. An additio-
nal problem is that after 1988 (with the exception of
1992), coinciding with the transfer of legal competence
in the field of hunting to the Autonomous Communi-
ties, information about hunting grounds has not been
updated. As the Autonomous Communities began to
implement their own hunting legislation by the be-
ginning of the 1990s, they introduced new classifi-
cations of hunting grounds in their territories. Nowadays
the amount of hunting ground denominations in Spain
exceeds 40, a large increase from the ten denomina-
tions established in the previous national hunting legis-
lation (Ley 1/1970, de 4 de abril, de Caza and Decreto
506/1971, de 25 de marzo). The analysis of hunting
areas is further complicated because different hunting
ground denominations with the same hunting arrange-
ments have been found, as well as the opposite situation.
The classification of hunting grounds in the most
recent database of the AEF (2006 and 2007) already
takes into account the new types of terrain that have
appeared as a result of the enactment of the regional
legislation on hunting. However, the classification
adopted in the AEF is not entirely accurate. Thus, this
146 M. Martinez-Jauregui et al. / Forest Systems (2011) 20(1), 139-150
complex situation should be clarified by developing a
means of clarifying the relationships among all of the
different types of hunting ground denominations
currently existing in the country.
Apart from conceptual problems derived from the
inadequate clustering of current hunting lands, it is im-
possible to combine the former hunting ground data
(that existed before the transfer of legal responsibility
for hunting to the Autonomous Communities) with new
data (available in AEF). This is because some of the
new hunting ground denominations in some Autono-
mous Communities legislation encompass several of
the former national legislation denominations (Ley
1/1970, de 4 de abril, de Caza and Decreto 506/1971,
de 25 de marzo). For example, the current definition
of a private hunting state in Andalucía (coto privado
de caza) includes those areas classified in the former
national legislation under private, social, local and
national states.
One final problem that we detected is the lack of
data on hunting grounds for some Autonomous Commu-
nities or provinces in recent years. We identified this
problem in Galicia, Navarra and Almería in 2005, Va-
lencia and Navarra in 2006, and Toledo, Lugo, Ponte-
vedra and Vizcaya in 2007.
Harvest estimates
Until 2005, harvest estimates of game animals in
Spain were only specified for deer, wild boar, hare,
rabbit, partridge, and quail, as they were the main game
species in the country at the beginning of the seventies.
Harvests of other game species appeared grouped
under designations such as «other big-game», «other
game smaller mammals» and «other game birds». This
has been an important limitation because in the period
1972-2003, other species as roe deer or Spanish ibex
gained greater economic and social importance in Spain.
Although separate harvest information is now provided
for a larger number of game species, data at national
scale provided in the AEF appear to be reliable only
for 2005, as in the two following years important errors
have been identified. For example, in 2006 there was
a lack of data on game animals shot in the Autonomous
Community of Andalucía, one of the most relevant
hunting communities in the country. Harvest figures
for Andalucía from 2006 were apparently added to next
year’s harvest figures in the 2007 edition of AEF. Another
statistical limitation regarding game species is the lack
of demographic information concerning big-game ani-
mals. Information about the percentage of males, fema-
les and calves shot is provided in the official hunting
statistics in other European countries such as the Na-
tional Office of the Chasse et Faune Sauvage of France
or the Hungarian Game Management Database in Hun-
gary (Milner et al., 2006). The cost of compiling this
information in Spain should be low; every Autonomous
Community already has access to this information
because a mandatory report of harvest is required to
manage hunting grounds.
Regarding other variables that characterized game
animals, we found that carcass weight is heterogeneous
between provinces and often varies greatly in certain
years. For example, in 2005 low big-game carcass weight
values could not be justified by unfavorable weather
conditions.
Information about the quality (size and beauty) of
big-game trophies is published regularly in the national
catalogues of game trophies. However, trophy evalua-
tion is a voluntary formality on the part of hunters, so
not all of the trophies of high quality are necessarily
evaluated and recorded. On the other hand, a positive
feature of trophy statistics is that they include all big-
game hunting species.
The value of game meat recorded in the official
Spanish statistics refers to the value at the hunting
ground level of the meat from game animals shot. It is
not clear whether the figures provided exclude the meat
from game animals shot and used for self-consump-
tion. In addition, it is unknown if the price attached to
each kilogram of meat is a real market price or a price
estimated by expert staff, although it seems more likely
to be the latter. Anomalies found in the carcass weight
statistics (already explained above) may also affect
game meat value data.
As mentioned in the previous section, the concept
of game-complementary revenues in the official Spa-
nish hunting statistics refers to an «estimate for the
income received by the hunting use of land, excluding
the value of shot animals». Bernabeu (2002) states that
the value of game-complementary revenues is suppo-
sed to be an indicator of the supplementary income
that a landowner derives from the hunting practiced on
his or her land, as estimated at the provincial level by
expert staff. However, the scheme to collect this infor-
mation and the methodology used to calculate the reve-
nues is not provided. As with the value of game meat,
it is not possible to identify whether this variable is
limited to the income derived from commercial hunting
Understanding long-term hunting statistics: the case of Spain (1972-2007) 147
or also includes an estimate of the utility derived from
non-commercial hunting. Regardless of conceptual
problems, caution should be taken when using data for
game-complementary revenues at the national scale
because the total figures do not always include the data
from all the Autonomous Communities. For example,
in 1988 data from 18 provinces were missing, and in
2002, the number of provinces that did not provide data
increased to 38.
Over time, there have been significant changes in
the classification and grouping of products covered by
the Spanish foreign trade statistics. Thus it is not an easy
task to track foreign trade in game meat for any parti-
cular game species, or even to clearly distinguish between
the big-game and small-game meat trades. A detailed
analysis of foreign trade statistics would be required
to understand the meaning of changing foreign nomen-
clatures so that a sound correspondence could be esta-
blished with individual or groups of game species.
Conclusions
Hunting statistics are an essential analytical tool for
understanding the economic, ecological and social rea-
lity of the hunting sector. However, results from the
present study for Spain indicate that hunting data
available in the official statistics are often incomplete,
dispersed and heterogeneous. Therefore, although they
are useful for analytical purposes, Spanish hunting sta-
tistics must be used with caution, and a critical stance
must be adopted in their interpretation.
Besides the problems associated with the initial
degree of incompleteness of the data being collected,
the use of Spanish hunting statistics faces an additional
difficulty. Since the transfer of responsibilities for the
regulation of hunting to the Autonomous Communities
took place during the 1980s, data collection on hunting
has been subject to qualitative changes in the defini-
tions of important concepts and variables previously
collected. This suggests that, to correctly interpret the
official hunting statistics in certain countries over time
and space, it may be necessarily to also consider politi-
cal and legislative changes. In the case of Spain, the
classification of hunting grounds changed drastically
in some Autonomous Communities after the transfer
of responsibilities for the regulation of hunting and the
enactment of different laws relevant to hunting at the
regional level. To mitigate the problems arising from
heterogeneous collection procedures of the official sta-
tistics, it is recommended that communication among
the Autonomous Communities and the Central Govern-
ment be improved and an agreed-upon common scheme
for data collection be established. This protocol should
be in accordance with future European hunting statis-
tics and based on robust and well-informed data collec-
tion methods.
In addition, as it has already been suggested by other
authors (Naredo, 1983), official statistics should in-
clude modifications and adaptations of biological, eco-
logical and economic concepts to cover transforma-
tions experienced by the hunting sector over time. We
suggest therefore that the methodology for the collec-
tion of data should be dynamic and adaptable to new
situations in the hunting sector. For example, due to
the increasing economic and ecological importance of
hunting in recent decades, it should be of great interest
to improve economic and environmental data related
to the hunting sector. However, as far as possible, any
changes in the data collected should be able to allow
for comparisons to be made between new variables and
previous ones.
Spanish hunting statistics also present more specific
shortcomings. Some of these limitations could be re-
medied without too much difficulty in the near future.
A major weakness of official statistics of hunting in
Spain is the lack of definitions for concepts and va-
riables and the lack of information on the procedures
for the calculation of statistics, data sources, sampling,
collection of data, control and revision, estimation, etc.
Therefore, we suggest that this information is provided
to potential users. Another possible improvement is to
enlarge the number of variables collected and parti-
cularly to provide the demographic composition of big-
game data, which is essential to track changes in popu-
lations over time, and the realization of a tighter econo-
mic valuation. In addition, it is suggested that a hunter
census should be developed to allow for a precise quan-
tification of the national hunting demand. It is also
necessary to develop a new classification scheme for
hunting grounds according to the new concepts and
definitions provided by the regional hunting laws indi-
cating the correspondence among the different desig-
nations of hunting grounds adopted in each Autono-
mous Community. Finally, it would also be of interest
to modify the nomenclature of game meat items
considered in the statistics of foreign trade to be able
to distinguish between foreign meat transactions of
different game species and groups of species, as is the
case, for example, in livestock.
148 M. Martinez-Jauregui et al. / Forest Systems (2011) 20(1), 139-150
Acknowlegments
We thank Roberto Vallejo and the staff of Banco de
Datos de la Naturaleza (Ministerio de Medio Ambiente
y Medio Rural y Marino) and two anonymous referees
for their comments.
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