Recreational hunter shoots at mountain biker
In Spain, a recreational hunter fires at a mountain biker during a driven hunt. Shots hit him in the arm and leg.
In Spain, José Miguel Torán was enjoying a sunny bike ride along the forest path Monte Orgergia in Alicante.
The route is particularly popular with horse riders, cyclists, and hikers. Suddenly, he was struck by bullets.
Recreational hunter mistakes cyclist for a hare
Torán, who was wearing colourful cycling gear and a helmet during the ride, had passed two recreational hunters just moments before he was shot at. Apparently, the unnamed wildlife killer mistook him for a hare during the hobby hunt and fired a cartridge in Torán's direction, as The Olive Press reports.
Fortunately, it was not a single bullet, which could easily have killed him. The cartridge consisted of around a hundred pellets, which lodged in Torán's skin across his entire lower back, buttocks, and legs.
After the local emergency services were called to the scene, Torán was treated on the spot. His wounds continue to be monitored by doctors to determine whether further treatment is required. Although he suffered no serious injuries or damage to vital organs, paramedics had to remove 20 pellets from his body.
Not an isolated case: hunting accidents are on the rise
Speaking to police, the recreational hunter explained that he had mistaken the movements of the cyclist for those of a rabbit. He also admitted to having fired a pellet-filled cartridge at him.
This type of incident is not uncommon, as cyclists and recreational hunters often frequent the same terrain. In 2018, a British cyclist was shot and killed by a recreational hunter in Morzine.
Since this area is popular not only with day-trippers but also with recreational hunters, such incidents had already occurred on several occasions in the past. Although Torán is aware that it was an accident, he is considering reporting the wildlife killer to the authorities. The latter could lose his hunting licence due to negligence. José Miguel Torán is also insisting that the police open an investigation into illegal recreational hunting in recreational areas.
More on the subject of recreational hunting: In the dossier Poaching and hunting crime in Switzerland we document cases, legal questions and recurring patterns. The scientific evidence is presented in the overview Studies on the Effects of Recreational Hunting.
The position of IG Wild beim Wild: IG Wild beim Wild rejects recreational hunting. Our model is the canton of Geneva, which has managed without recreational hunting since 1974: without hunting seasons, without hunting dogs, without driven hunts, without high seats, without the animal cruelty and crime that go hand in hand with hunting season elsewhere. What has worked there for over fifty years disproves every position paper by JagdSchweiz. An association that bases its policy on claims it refutes in its own documents is not a professional organisation, but a factory for misinformation.
