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Date Published: 26/09/2022

ARCHIVED - Hunting with shotguns banned at Alicante mountain park 10 months after cyclist was wounded

ARCHIVED ARTICLE

The cyclist suffered more than 100 pellet wounds when the Costa Blanca shooter mistook him for a rabbit in November last year

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Hunting with shotguns banned at Alicante mountain park 10 months after cyclist was wounded

A total ban on hunting with shotguns at Mount Orgegia park in Alicante has been imposed by the Valencian Government after a cyclist suffered more than 100 pellet wounds when he was shot by a hunter who mistook him for a rabbit.

The Judicial Police of North Alicante determined that the shooting was an accident, but nevertheless, the hunter faced charges for recklessness and causing serious injury last November, and there were calls from Oregia Town Hall, amongst others, for a ban on hunting in the area which has become a popular recreational spot for hikers and bikers.

Now, 10 months later, the Generalitat has ruled in favour of the local council and declared a 95-hectare safety zone encompassing the mountain forest area and adjoining private land. Only rabbit hunting with dogs and without shotguns and falconry is allowed to "avoid a repetition of an accident between hunters and users of this periurban park in Alicante like the one that occurred almost a year ago".

The Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development, Climate Emergency and Ecological Transition has banned the use of weapons in the area "so that users of this public mountain do not share the environment with hunters", a measure that also has the support of the provincial council which actively promotes the park's mountain trails.

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The resolution was signed on Friday September 21 by the Director General of the Natural Environment and Environmental Assessment, Julio Gómez, and will come into force in the next few days, once it's published in the Diari Oficial de la Generalitat Valenciana (DOGV),

It states that on "the land included in the declared safety zone, in order to avoid damage to persons or property, it is permanently prohibited to hunt with weapons in any form, being able to practice rabbit hunting with dogs and without weapons and falconry in accordance with the hunting seasons and other conditions set out in the closed season for common hunting areas and its annual resolution of development."

Furthermore, "it is forbidden to shoot in the direction of this safety zone, provided that the hunter is not separated from it by a distance greater than that which can be reached by the projectile."

However, the Regional Ministry reserves the right to authorise hunting for control or management reasons, specifically, "in cases [where] there may be harmful effects for people and their property, for crops, for other species of wild flora or fauna or to combat diseases or epizootic diseases affecting wild species."

Landowners and the Hunting Federation of the Valencian Community were consulted and given an opportunity to comment prior to the resolution, and a letter of "full agreement" was presented "to avoid any further incidents".

Despite the shooting being deemed a "fortuitous accident" by the National Police, the hunter testified in early December 2021 and explained that he was about 25 metres from the road on a slope and bushes.

He claimed that when one of his dogs indicated the presence of a rabbit, he shot, inadvertently injuring the cyclist. Finally, 10 months later, measures have been taken to prevent a recurrence of something that park users have reportedly been warning about for years.

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