The impact of COVID-19 on sport hunting in Spain

Sport hunting is considered a multifunctional and key activity in rural Europe, and after the first COVID-19 outbreaks in 2020, it was restrained in many countries, such as Spain. This study found that during the first year of pandemics the number of hunting licences was reduced by 9%, and hunting was overall decreased but varied among types of hunting, game species and commercial and non-commercial hunting (from 17 to 95%). COVID-19 negatively impacted hunting providers and the game meat industry, and the game bag was reduced for 80% of the species from 2019 to 2020. Mobility restrictions affected mainly hunting requiring several people and 'non-local' hunters. In 2021 the game bag returned partially to pre-COVID-19 levels, but the number of licences continued a sustained negative trend. In the likely event of future lockdowns, it will be useful for policy makers to consider hunting as performing essential functions, such as species and disease control, habitat management and wildlife monitoring.