Hunting victims in Italy: The AVC dossier 2025/2026

The dossier makes clear that the 2025/2026 hunting season represents no exception, but rather part of an unbroken chain of incidents.

Deaths, serious injuries, misuse of hunting weapons and criminal behaviour also characterise this year's chronology. Particularly alarming is that people are increasingly affected who have no connection whatsoever torecreational hunting present. Female pedestrians, neighbors, family members, or random bystanders become victims of an armed recreational activity that stubbornly refuses to adapt to social change.

The AVC deliberately defines the term 'hobby hunters' broadly. It encompasses all persons who hunt, regardless of whether they possess a valid license or act illegally. This perspective is crucial, as the cases documented in the dossier demonstrate that the dangers do not end with formal permits. The risks stem from the practice itself, from weapons in civilian spaces, and from a culture that normalizes violence against animals and humans. More on the fundamental problem of recreational hunting as a societal risk can be found in the dossier section of IG Wild beim Wild.

Officially, according to the Interior Ministry, there are still around 588,000 valid hunting licenses in Italy. This number has been declining for years. In the 1980s and 1990s, it stood at over 1.5 million. However, the decline in recreational hunters by no means translates to less damage. On the contrary: The dossier reveals an inverse proportionality. Fewer hobby hunters, but a persistently high number of victims, in some cases even with increasing endangerment of uninvolved persons. Illegal recreational hunting and poaching remain a massive dark field that additionally distorts official figures.

Particularly striking is the ratio between hobby hunter victims and non-hunter victims. In the 2025/2026 season, 33 hobby hunters died as a result of their own actions. At the same time, 13 people who had nothing to do with hunting activities lost their lives. This figure is not a marginal phenomenon, but a structural warning signal. Sardinia, Piedmont, and Tuscany lead the tragic statistics. These are regions where recreational hunting is deeply embedded in everyday culture and accordingly receives little critical scrutiny.

Despite these facts, a serious political debate remains absent. Media often report episodically, in isolation, without making the structural connection visible. Recreational hunting continues to be portrayed as tradition, as a necessary instrument, or as a harmless hobby. It is precisely this trivialization that we have been criticizing for years at Wild beim Wild, for example in our analyses on the psychology of recreational hunting and the role of violence legitimization in rural areas.

The political development in Italy further exacerbates the situation. Under the Meloni government, laws are being advanced that further expand hunting interests and undermine fundamental rights. Particularly explosive is bill 1552 with the planned amendment to Article 16 of Law 157/1992. It opens the door for recreational hunting on private property against the will of property owners and in favor of economic interests. This is not only an attack on property rights, but also on the population's sense of security.

The AVC dossier is methodologically sound. It excludes cases that are not directly attributable to the use of hunting weapons, such as falls or heart attacks. Ordinary crime without hunting connection is also not considered. This makes the remaining figures all the more significant. They show that recreational hunting is not an isolated nature conservation instrument, but a dangerous practice with real victims. Human victims, domestic animals, synanthropic animals, and wild animals are equally affected. In-depth background on the ethical dimension can be found at:

In the end, this dossier forces a clear decision. Either an armed, anachronistic, and socially increasingly incompatible activity continues to be tolerated, or there is a change of direction toward an ethic of life. An ethic that places safety, animal welfare, and social peace above particular interests. The figures from Italy is not a special case. It is a European warning signal.