Poland: Trophy hunters no longer welcome

Poland was the number one hunting destination for hobby hunters from German-speaking countries, particularly western Poland.

Now entirely different rules apply, coming into effect on April 1st. From now on, all group hunts must be reported to the authorities in advance. Hunting opponents will therefore be able to prepare accordingly in the future. The deliberate obstruction of recreational hunting is no longer a criminal offence.

Foreign hunting operators such as Hubertus-Hunting are unlikely to be pleased about Poland's revolutionary hunting reform either. Animal welfare advocates would much prefer that hobby hunters give their country a wide berth in future.

Increased oversight of the hunting association

The new regulations also improve the Environment Minister's oversight of the Polish hunting association. The partly criminal conduct had been tolerated for far too long. Public opinion towards hobby hunters has completely shifted. The same can be observed in the Czech Republic and elsewhere. The hollow and hypocritical talk from hobby hunters about protection and conservation, being advocates for animals, and so on, simply does not hold up.

Those who kill senselessly are not protecting anything, and civilised society gains nothing from it.

Strengthening property rights

The new hunting law will primarily strengthen the rights of landowners. They will now be able to exclude hobby hunter gangs from their land without having to give any reason.

Furthermore, the new regulations increase the distance to residential buildings within which hobby hunters may hunt from 100 to 150 meters. Recreational hunting may also only be carried out at a minimum distance of 500 meters from public gatherings.

Minors have been prohibited from actively and passively participating in recreational hunting. This means that children from surrounding villages may no longer be recruited for driven hunts. The new law is intended to guarantee children and young people a harmonious development.

Under the new law, hobby hunters must undergo a medical and psychological character assessment every 5 years!

Ban on live animals in training

It is also no longer permitted to shoot in national parks or nature reserves without authorization, etc.

Under the new law, it will now also be impossible to use live animals in the training of hunting birds and hunting dogs.

The fox caught in the wild was, for example, kept on a leash here so that it could not escape. Its snout was taped shut with adhesive tape to prevent it from defending itself. There are no limits to the sadism to which the average hobby hunter feels drawn in dealing with wild animals— were it not for common sense intervening against the hobby hunters. This can be observed in all countries with a recreational hunting culture.

Wolf hunting in Poland has been banned since 1998. Depending on the source, the population is estimated at around 1’500 to 2’500 animals.

With this, Poland has made a quantum leap in animal welfare by tackling the problem of recreational hunting. The IG Wild beim Wild congratulates all the revolutionary forces that made this possible. More on the animal welfare problem of recreational hunting.