Ecologistas en Acción asks to reflect on the "negative impact" of hunting once the closed season has ended "which brings us closer to the first steps of human evolution when it was an act of subsistence and, on the contrary, moves us away from the possibility of cohabiting with respect and criteria together with the sentient beings with whom we share the island."
From the ecological association they point out that "this hunting activity focused on killing wild animals in certain periods carries a significant risk to health, the landscape, the territory, and represents a brake on progress as a tolerant and respectful society with the environment on which we depend."
"People who practice hunting should receive courses or workshops to make them aware of the danger involved: the gratuitous waste of lead with its consequences, even for human health, the loss of animal and plant biodiversity, the demolition of dry stone walls -declared a World Heritage Site-, the “forgotten” garbage, in addition to other more individualized disrespectful behaviors, are consequences of this practice as ancestral as it is unevolved," they add.
Ecologistas en Acción points out that "the rabbit, by its nature, puts at risk the survival of different species of our flora, some of them in danger of extinction, even if they are located in areas protected for their high heritage value such as Famara or Timanfaya. The necessary control to definitively solve the loss of island plant biodiversity must be a priority."
They also state that "the behavior of those who do not hesitate to abandon or release their dogs when they are no longer useful to them is painful, and they then attack species in danger of disappearing, as is the case with the Saharan runner and the houbara bustard. Apparently, no thought is given to the serious environmental consequences generated by this negligence which, in all probability, will go unpunished, since not all dogs are identified and silence among the group is the norm."
"We must take into account that the nesting of the houbara bustard depends on the presence of rain. For example, in the past year, the male houbara bustards began to dance at the end of September, when the hunting season is in force. Meanwhile, the Saharan runner nests several times a year, so we conclude that the hunting period does not even respect the nesting of endangered species," they state.
The association states that "many times, the animals that do not die from the impacts of the bullets will do so from poisoning, whose corpses will be ingested by other animals that will continue to contaminate because lead remains in the body and in the physical environment for hundreds of years."
"The game pieces that are consumed in Lanzarote can store lead in their organisms that, with maceration and cooking, facilitates the release of these lead particles and that we finally ingest, with the consequent danger to our health." they add.
They also remember the shearwaters, which as an endangered and protected species are furtively "still hunted and subjected to disorientation with the lights of the coast."
Finally, they warn of the "risk derived from allowing a person of 14 or 15 years old to handle a firearm, an age at which they are not considered of legal age, they are not allowed to vote in political elections, nor even drive, but they are allowed to handle a weapon."
