Be in the Know: Hunting Season Edition

 What is Hunting Season?

Hunting Season refers to the months of the year that it is legal to hunt in Trinidad and Tobago. The hunting season in Trinidad and Tobago began on October 1st, 2021. In order to hunt, one would need to apply for a hunting permit from the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries. According to our legislation, any animal classed as vermin (bats, rats, squirrels, manicou, yellow-tail birds, and green parrots) can be hunted by owners or occupants of privately owned land without a permit, however, hunting in the forest reserves requires a permit/license.

Figure 1: showing the opening of hunting season (Texas.gov 2021)

What can you hunt and how could you hunt it?

            The government of Trinidad and Tobago has published a list of game species that can be pursued during the hunting season. This list is categorized into Reptiles (cayman and lizards), Mammals (Agouti, Armadillo/Tattoo, Deer, Lappe and Quenk), Birds (13 listed species), and Caged Birds (8 listed species).  The full list of species can be viewed on the Government’s Biodiversity site. These game animals cannot be hunted in areas designated as a “Game Sanctuary”. A Game Sanctuary is an area where game animals are protected. There are many methods that can be used to capture and or hunt animals. These include:

·        “trapping with nets, cages, tranquilizers, etc.;

·        Attaching devices such as tags, bands, collars, radio/satellite telemetry emitter etc.;

·      Marking with paint, dyes, clipping body parts (fins, feathers, flippers, ears, etc.)

·  Drawing body fluids such as blood, cerebrospinal fluid, semen and ova” (National Wildlife Policy 2013 Page 20).


Figure 2: Loop News (2017)

Are there any issues with the Hunting Season?

            In Trinidad and Tobago's legislation, there are barely any regulations to prevent hunters from taking animals that are too young or premature. It is simply up to the discretion of the hunter. This means that it is crucial for us to know why it is important to converse the juvenile animals. Therefore, if too many juvenile animals are killed there will not be enough mature animals to continue to the reproductive process and populations will decrease continuously.

Figure 3: showing El Soccoro Centre for Wildlife Conservation


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Manatees in Trinidad and Tobago

Image
What are Manatees? Manatees, though they live in water, are classified as mammals because they come up to the surface every three to five minutes to get oxygen through their nostrils. In the Caribbean, we have the West Indian Manatee (Latin Name: Trichechus Manatus), also known as the ‘Sea Cow’. These gentle giants can grow up to 13 feet long and weigh up to 1200 pounds. Their diet consists of seagrasses and small invertebrates, consuming up to 15% of their body weight in vegetation. It is believed that the lack of predators in Trinidad and Tobago allows our Manatees to live up to sixty (60) years. Figure 1: showing a manatee floating (WNW Press Release 2021) What is the Status of our Manatees? In Trinidad, the Nariva Swamp is the most well-known habitat for manatees. However, based on an evaluation by UNEP/CEP in 1995, they determined that the manatee population consisted of twenty-five (25) to thirty (30) individuals in total. At that time the trend was that the population was de...
Read more

Trinidad White-fronted Capuchin

Image
  Their Status: In Trinidad and Tobago there are a wide variety of mammals that live here unlike any other island. Our islands lie the closest to South America meaning that we have both continental and tropical species of flora and fauna. The White-fronted Capuchin is a monkey that can be found in many South American countries such as Venezuela (the closest South American country to Trinidad and Tobago), Columbia, Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, and Ecuador as well as in Trinidad and Tobago. Each country has its own subset or variation in the species that makes it unique. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature 2008, the Trinidad White-fronted Capuchin was declared as a critically endangered species with a total population size of 61 mature individuals in Trinidad and Tobago. When a species is critically endangered it means that the population size is less than 250 mature individuals. Since being classified as a critically endangered species there has been no furth...
Read more

Deforestation in Trinidad and Tobago

Image
What is deforestation in Trinidad and Tobago? Deforestation is defined as the removal of trees from forested areas across the world. Locally, we have three main forested areas: the Northern range, Central Range in Trinidad, and the Main Ridge in Tobago. It is important to mention that South Trinidad is also largely forested especially in and around the Trinity Hills. These forested areas are constantly under attack by legal and illegal deforestation. Figure 1: showing deforestation in Trinidad (Loop News 2021) Deforestation in Trinidad and Tobago Firstly, not all deforestation is illegal. Companies that require space for infrastructural development can apply to the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) for approval on the project. The EMA can determine the impact that the project would cause on the environment based on the details of the venture. Lumber companies also need to apply for a license before they teardown trees from any area. However, a large portion of the trees ...
Read more