Grouse populations very low

Bird hunters asked to exercise restraint this season

Game counts with triangulation have revealed that the numbers of grouse in Finland have fallen dramatically from last year’s count. Nationwide, there were 20% less capercaillie, 30% less black grouse and hazel grouse, and up to 40% less willow grouse than one year earlier.

Last summer’s survival rate for young grouse was very poor due to unfortunate weather conditions. The winter also took its toll on the adult population. These numbers are the result of the grouse monitoring programme of the Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute and the Hunters’ Central Organisation.

The combined population density of all of the grouse species was one of the lowest in its 20-year monitoring history. There was no regional variance in grouse decrease; a sizable drop in population was consistent throughout the country. Only in the southernmost parts of Finland was the decline less severe.

The triangulation monitoring programme for grouse is now in its third decade. This year some 4,700 hunters traced the lines in the Finnish landscape, logging more than 15,000 hours of monitoring work. More than 8,300 individuals representing different grouse species were tallied in the count.

For more grouse monitoring results, see the following links at the Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute website.

http://www.rktl.fi/riista/riistavarat/metsakanalinnut_2008/ <https://webmail.rktl.fi/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.rktl.fi/riista/riistavarat/metsakanalinnut_2008/> 

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