Mapping the conflict of raptor conservation and recreational shooting in the Batumi Bottleneck, Republic of Georgia

Abstract

Illegal use of natural resources threatens biodiversity and often leads to conservation conflicts between affected parties. Such a conflict is emerging in the Batumi Bottleneck in the Republic of Georgia, where every autumn more than one million migrating birds of prey funnel above a handful of villages, and where thousands of these birds fall victim to illegal shooting. As a first step towards resolving this conflict, utilizing semi-structured interviews, we map the goals and opinions of relevant stakeholders associated with raptor migration in the bottleneck. Our results show that most stakeholders, except some local hunters, are on common ground considering the shooting unacceptable, but articulate different preferences concerning a solution, which hinged on institutional and enforcement issues. The hunters expressed a wide spectrum of responses concerning their involvement and motivation in raptor shooting, the role and importance of hunting in their lives, and preferred mitigation actions. The most urgent issues to be addressed via conservation actions are the wide-scale lack of awareness of the conflict, the potential loss of species, and the risk of conflict escalation.

Full text

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
Anna Sándor & Brandon P. Anthony
26 June 2018 | Vol. 10 | No. 7 | Pages: 11850–11862
10.11609/jo.3695.10.7.11850-11862
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Mapping raptor conservaon conict in Batumi, Georgia Sandor & Anthony
11850
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                  
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,

 1 & 2







   
               

      
         





of
 
11851

      
     
          
     
 
       
      

        
    


     

      

       
      
      
          
       
       
       
  
 
     

        
     

        
  
 
         
        
        
      
        

     
        


       

      


        
    
      
 
        
         

     
         
         
        
       
   
       


        
        
     
         

        

          



      
      
       

        
           
   
    

        


      
     
       

 
     
 Circus macrourus

Clanga clanga


 
       

of
 
11852
      



        
     

       
 
      

        
       
      
      
        

      
    
        
        
      

      
        
        

       
     




    
      
         
     
 
 





           
      

       
        
      

       
         
Figure 


of
 
11853
         
     
        
        
        





       
       
        
          

   


      




 

      
     
       
    
       



        
     
       
      
         
      
      
      

       
          
    

        
      

     
        

      
        
   
       
      
       
   
         
        
 

      
     
  
       
     
       
        
      
      
     


        
       
        
 

        


       
     
       
        
      
        
        
      

     
 




         
      


of
 
11854
 


       
    


    

       
     
    
        
      

     
   
           
      
 

        


    
    


  


        
       
       
  


  
      

        

      
      
        
  
     
      
       
         

“There should be only one approach towards this
issue: it is not acceptable.”
        
       
            


   

“I shoot raptors not because I want to eat them or
because there are so many, but because it is a hobby, like
shing or drinking. Catching a sh or killing a bird gives
me pleasure.” /Hunter 1, Dagva Village/

       
      
       


       

      
     




        

 
     
 

“Some people go hunng without knowing how
to shoot. They can shoot each other or themselves.
Previously you had to pass exams on how to shoot, and
only if you passed this test you could be a member of a
hunng organisaon. They also checked your background
and mental health. I used to be a member of a hunng
associaon, but there is no such thing anymore. Back
then you couldn’t buy a gun without being a member...
Now it is dierent.” /Hunter 5, Zeda Makhinjauri Village/
       


of
 
11855


“[Raptor shoong] is a very serious problem that
started aer the collapse of the Soviet Union. Internal
polical circumstances brought a huge impact on the
economic system in Georgia, and poverty forced locals
to hunt for food without making a dierence between
legal and protected species. Aer so many years, illegal
hunng became a hobby that locals even promote as a
tradion, but it has never been a tradion in Georgia.” /
SABUKO/
“There are usually 3 movaons [for raptor
shoong]: the rst is spending me, like a sport. Then
there are people who shoot mammals and birds to sell
them. And the third type shoots raptors to bring food to
the family, because they are poor.” /DES/
“Most hunters know that the killing of buzzards,
eagles, or bears is strictly forbidden, and 90% respect
and follow the hunng regulaons, but some of them
just don’t pay any aenon to the law.” /DENR/

       

       

“There were some people from the Netherlands
lming the migraon here, and these guys [the hunters]
were shoong raptors even then... now the world will

  

  

   

3  
  



   

   


 

  
 


 

 
 

 
 
 

 


 
 

 
 
 


 


 

 
 
 
 


 


 

 

 
 

 
 
 

 



 
 
 


 

 

 

 




of
 

see that people don’t respect the nature and the laws in
Georgia.” /Hunter 9, Makhinjauri Village/

       
      
      

    
    
       
       


“It is very dicult to control illegal shoong. We
don’t have enough people, and during the migraon the
mountains are full of birds. It is impossible to check every
place. We try to spread in groups and check as many
shoong sites as possible... but hunters are dicult to
nd.” /DES/
“Nobody cares about raptor shoong.” /Hunter 4,
Kvirike Village/
       
       
      
       
       
      
        
       
     
         
       
        

      


        

   




       

“Yes, I shoot raptors. It is not in the licence, but if I
have the chance, I shoot them. I don’t know anyone
who ever got into trouble for that. Tape-luring and using
light [for quail] is dierent, you can be ned for those.” /
Hunter 4, Kvirike Village/

 


 


 


 



 


 

  
 

   
 

 
        
        



       



 


 


 

 

 


 

 


     


       

 

1 Tape-luring uses pre-recorded bird calls (e.g. mating, threat,
challenger) to attract birds into a trap or net.
2 Light trapping utilizes bright lights at night to temporarily stun birds.

of
 


 




       


  
      
        


“I hope the [central] Georgian Ministry of
Environment will take the right decisions to make strict
changes in the legislaon, and will deliver right tools for
enforcing it”. /DENR/
     
      
       
       

      

        

“Georgia is a unique place in the world, where
birdwatching tourism could develop to be an important
economic factor.” /BRC’s Hunng Monitoring Team/
“We are happy that Georgia appeared on the world
map of birdwatching tourism desnaons.” /DTR/
     
      
   
   
        
      
    

      
     

“So far the government was not recognizing illegal
killing of birds as a real issue and they have been avoiding
discussion about this topic. However, during the past
few years, they have become more open for discussion
and cooperaon. This is mostly because in 2014 Georgia
has signed an Associated Agreement with the EU
which obligates the government to implement nature
conservaon acvies in a very strict way. Currently,
we are in the process of negoaons with relevant
governmental bodies to establish collaboraon methods
to minimize incidents of illegal killing.” /SABUKO/
      
         

    
        
  


  
 
      
      
       
       



“Some of the hunters are already ashamed of what
they are doing, but I don’t expect them to stop [shoong]
immediately. So rst we’d try to reduce the pressure on
the most vulnerable species, and then the amount of
hunters who take part in this illegal acvity. On the short
term this will already solve the most urgent problems.
On the long run there will always be very persistent
hunters that will never change their habits and will
never accept that they cannot shoot raptors anymore.
But then we are in a later phase when we have built up
a good, strong background of people that support our
eorts, and in that phase we can already start stricter
enforcement. But this should really be the very last step.
We have to make sure that these last hunters get the
message that what they are doing is wrong.” /BRC’s
Hunng Monitoring Team/

       
      


“Yes, there should be hunng legislaon. But it
shouldn’t be stricter. If it were stricter, there would be
no more birds to shoot.” /Hunter 6, Makhinjauri Village/
       
       
     
       
          

of
 
11858
      
      
 

   
       
        

       
       

     




  

       
       
         
       
       
      



     
        
        


“In the morning small boys would come and ask when
I was going hunng. I would say at 5, which is very early,
but the boys come at 4:45, they are so eager. Somemes
I don’t want them to come, that’s why I say such an early
hour, but they sll come, they are so keen.” /Hunter 1,
Dagva Village/

   
         


         

 
       
    
        

       

        
        

 

   

“I become more experienced over me. When I was
younger, it was more like playing: we went hunng with
ten friends, but shot only one bird, so we made dinner
with that. Now we are more serious... but it doesn’t
maer how many birds you shoot, having a good me is
more important. It never happens that someone shoots
a bird and takes it home saying it is mine. We always
share. It is like a tradion.” /Hunter 4, Kvirike Village/

      
  
        


 Pernis apivorus    


      



“Why would anyone shoot raptors? You can’t eat
them.” /Hunter 7, Makhinjauri Village/


        
          

  
        


“I don’t shoot the sh-eater irao or black irao3,
because it has bad smell… and I don’t shoot mimino4
and shevardeni5, because they are small. If it isn’t edible,
I don’t shoot it. When it ies you see what it is, and if
it can’t be eaten, you shoot another one... When I was
younger I shot everything I could. When I got older I only

of
 
11859
shot the bigger ones, with more meat.” /Hunter 2, Dagva
Village/
      

   

 

“Many hunters cannot disnguish between species,
meaning that despite saying that eagles are rare and
should not be shot, when a lesser spoed eagle 
 comes, they do not recognise it as being an
eagle, but call it a ‘big raptor’ and shoot it.” /BRC’s
Hunng Monitoring Team/

     

       
      
         
       


   
 Correct ID  
 †
 Turdus merula      
 Oriolus oriolus      
 Grus grus      
 Upupa epops  77  
 Merops apiaster  7  
 Accipiter nisus      
 Scolopax ruscola      
 Pernis apivorus 
     


Tetrao
mlokosiewiczi      
 Coracias garrulus      
 Hieraaetus
pennatus      
 Falco subbuteo      
 Aquila nipalensis      
 Clanga pomarina 
    

 Accipiter brevipes 
     
 Circus macrourus      
 Circus pygargus      
 Ciconia nigra      

 Circus macrourus      
 Milvus mugrans      
 Buteo buteo
vulpinus

     
 Circaetus gallicus      



†
3 Widely used names for Black kite Milvus migrans. The species is
often claimed to be an unpopular quarry due to its strong smell.
4 Eurasian sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus, widely used for smaller
raptors in general.
5 Falcon spp.

of
 



      

       
    

    
        
         

       
        
 

      
   
     

     


        
     
         



       
       

       
     






      
       
  
     
      
       
  
       
       
    
        
        
     


      

       
     


      
      

  

     

      
   

       

 
     
       
 

“Nature needs a beer future in Georgia” /DENR/
       
        
      

      
    
    
     
       
    
       
       
        


     

  
      
    
        

       
      

of
 

      

  
     

 

      
       
          



        
   

           
       
 Conservaon & Society

 
 Wildlife tourism: impacts, management and
planning. 


Tropical Conservaon Science
 Migrang raptors of the world: their ecology &
conservaon
  Birds in Europe: Populaon Esmates,
Trends and Conservaon Status   

   Clanga clanga     
    
    

  Circus macrourus    


   The Killing  




        

 

AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment

        
  

        
  

        
      
Animal Conservaon
         
Key Topics in
Conservaon Biology
 
Human Dimensions of Wildlife

       

   Fatal Flight: the Maltese Obsession with Killing
Birds
         
     Conservaon Biology

     
Birds of Prey Bullen

         
      
Holarcc Birds of Prey 

        
     
   



Berichte zum Vogelschutz
  The Historical Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain
and Ireland 1875–1900
   Assessment of the Shoong of Migrang Raptors
in the Batumi Boleneck.    

       
      
 Internaonal Journal of Comparave and Applied Criminal
Jusce

 The Biophilia Hypothesis

          
        
  Aquila heliaca   
Land Use Policy
   Who Cares About Wildlife? Social Science
Concepts for Exploring Human-Wildlife Relaonships and
Conservaon Issues.
         
Human
Dimensions of Wildlife
   Sustainable management of biodiversity, South
Caucasus: Consultancy on reecng hunng regulaons in the Dra
Framework Law on Biodiversity, Mission Report  

  
       
Geoforum

Scosh Birds 

   
Society & Natural Resources
        
 

      
   

 


        
Brish Criminology Conference

of
 

      
      Forum:
Qualitave Social Research   

   Qualitave research and evaluaon methods



Human Dimensions of Wildlife Management in North
America
         
  
      
Trends in Ecology & Evoluon
  The Illegal Killing of Birds of Prey in Scotland, 1994–
2014: A Review

        
   
   Sandgrouse
.
        Essenal
Ethnographic Methods: Observaons, Interviews, and
Quesonnaires
  
   Internaonal
Journal of Rural Criminology 
       
BioScience
        
        Social Assessment
of Conservaon Iniaves: A Review of Rapid Methodologies


    
        
Milvus milvusBiological Conservaon
         
    Biological
Conservaon
        Praccal
Assessment, Research & Evaluaon  
 


 Global Re-introducon
Perspecves: Addional Case-studies from Around the Globe

       

 Birds
of Prey in A Changing Environment
   Human Groups and Social Categories: Studies in
Social Psychology
 
Bird
Conservaon Internaonal

Ardea

    
        
Criminal Law and Philosophy  

   Crime,
Law and Social Change   

   Crimes against nature: Environmental criminology
and ecological jusce
        People and
wildlife, conict or co-existence?    

   
 
Biological Conservaon 


ISSN 0974-7907 (Online); ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)
June 2018 | Vol. 10 | No. 7 | Pages: 11831–11998


www.threatenedtaxa.org
The Journal of Threatened Taxa is dedicated to building evidence for conservaon globally by publishing
peer-reviewed arcles online every month at a reasonably rapid rate at www.threatenedtaxa.org. All
arcles published in JoTT are registered under Creave Commons Aribuon 4.0 Internaonal License
unless otherwise menoned. JoTT allows unrestricted use of arcles in any medium, reproducon,
and distribuon by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of publicaon.
OPEN ACCESS

-Imperata patch in a

-- Muntasir Akash, Tania Khan & Sayam U. Chowdhury, Pp. 11831–11843



-- Sandeep Chouksey & Somesh Singh, Pp. 11844–11849


-- Anna Sándor & Brandon P. Anthony, Pp. 11850–11862
Bangana dero 
 from northeastern region
of India
-- Kamlesh Kumar Yadav & Rani Dhanze, Pp. 11863–11868


-- Neeraj Sharma, Suresh Kumar Rana, Pankaj Raina, Raja Amir & Muzaar
Ahmed Kichloo, Pp. 11869–11894

endemic plants
-- Mayur D. Nandikar, Priyanka T. Giranje & Durga C. Jadhav, Pp. 11895–11915


Herpailurus yagouaroundi

-- Nárjara Veras Grossmann, Anderson Silva de Sousa, Rebecca Marns
Cardoso & Estevam Guilherme Lux Hoppe, Pp. 11916–11919
Pathological and immunohistochemical studies on hemangiosarcoma in
Panthera gris and lions Panthera leo
-- N. Jayasree, Ch. Srilatha, N. Sailaja, R. Venu & W.L.N.V. Varaprasad, Pp.
11920–11924
Lepus nigricollis (Mammalia: Lagomorpha: Leporidae)

-- V. Anoop, P.R. Arun & Rajah Jayapal, Pp. 11925–11927
Hystrix indica

-- Maral K. Chreiki, Mark D. Steer, Sami Ullah Majeed, Swami Kakembo &
Steve Ross, Pp. 11928–11933
Junonia 

region in India
-- Deepika Mehra, Jagbir Singh Kir & Avtar Kaur Sidhu, Pp. 11934–11947
Neostaccia
plebeja
notes on Staccia diluta 
-- Balasaheb V. Sarode, Swapnil S. Boyane & Hemant. V. Ghate, Pp. 11948–
11954
Labochirus tauricornis


-- Manoj Ramakant Borkar, Pp. 11955–11962
Kingiodendron pinnatum
(Angiosperms: Fabaceae) an endemic and endangered legume tree in

-- P.A. Jose, Siju Tom Kuruvila & N.M. Binoy, Pp. 11963–11968
Polytrias indica

-- Vatsavaya S. Raju & V. Sampath Kumar, Pp. 11969–11972
Notes

-- Prashant Wagh, Sudhakar Kurhade, Shrikant Jadhav & Deepa Jaiswal,
Pp. 11973–11979
Parnassius mnemosyne


-- A.B. Ruchin, Pp. 11980–11983

-- Shakha Sharma & Neeraj Sharma, Pp. 11984–11987
First record of a trogid beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Trogidae) from

-- Aparna Sureshchandra Kalawate & S.S. Patole, Pp. 11988–11991

Ipomoea rubens 
-- J. Swamy & Pragada Venkata Ramana, Pp. 11992–11994
Macrofungus Nitschkia macrospora  a

-- K.J. Nandan Patel, M. Krishnappa & V. Krishna, Pp. 11995–11996
Miscellaneous

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