Deer populations in Berguedà and Ripollès are maintained with 15 specimens per km2

The Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda ensures that the deer populations of Berguedà and Ripollès “remain stable thanks to the hunting pressure of recent years”. As they explain, the average densities of the last ten years estimated during the spring months of 2023 oscillate around 15 specimens per square kilometer.

On the other hand, they point out that the hunting actions have focused on the capture of adult females in order to efficiently reduce the growth of the population. This Wednesday, June 5, the Technical Commission included in the Strategic Plan for damage prevention and health control of hunting species 2025 met in Bagà.

During the last working hunting period 2022-2023, the Department of Climate Action granted a total of 1,083 deer hunting permits in the Berguedà and Ripollès regions to control population growth. Of these, 841 were to hunt females. In the 12 private hunting areas and in the Cadí National Hunting Reserve, 75% of these permits were executed.

In a statement, the Department points out that the favorable environmental conditions in the Berguedà and Ripollès area translate into high deer productivity values, with averages of up to one calf per adult female in the last 10 years. Regarding density estimates, the censuses that have been carried out during the spring of 2023 have achieved an average value of 17 specimens per square kilometer. They assure that it is “a value slightly above the previous year, but within the range of the values ??of recent years, which is 15 copies.”

In addition, they confirm that the distribution of deer abundance is not homogeneous and there are some areas in the municipalities of Castelar de n’Hug, La Pobla de Lillet, Sant Salvador de Guardiola and Sant Jaume de Frontanyà where densities are higher than the 40 crows per km2.

In the same statement, from the Department they assure that the conditions of lack of rain in the last two years, which has caused a reduction in the productivity of pastures and vegetation in general, “has led to an increase in complaints of some farmers. Despite the efficiency of hunting use, it has been shown to be effective in achieving control of the population, in recent months exceptional controls have been carried out in specific areas where conflict situations appear,” they say.