Three Danish nature and animal welfare organizations are calling for a ban on breeding pheasants solely to release them for hunting, days before the season opens on October 1.
Danmarks Naturfredningsforening, Dyrenes Beskyttelse and Det Dyreetiske Råd want the practice outlawed. DR reports that around one million pheasants are released into fields and thickets each year before the first shots are fired.
Bengt Holst, chair of Det Dyreetiske Råd, told DR that the problem is breeding pheasants for the single purpose of shooting them. Bo Håkansson, a biologist at Danmarks Naturfredningsforening, said the question is not for or against hunting, but whether the ethics and the biology are sound.
For this season, 986,053 pheasants have so far been reported released, according to figures cited by DR. The reported total has stayed close to one million for the past six years.
Pheasants may only be released between April 1 and August 31. Reporting the number released is required by law, unless the keeper has fewer than 100 birds in the flock.
Hunters defend breeding and release
Niels Søndergaard, head of wildlife management and advocacy at Danmarks Jægerforbund, rejects the criticism. He told DR that the way breeding and release are carried out in Denmark can be fully defended in animal welfare terms.
According to Søndergaard, pheasant hunting serves several purposes. He points to nature experiences, income for landowners, more biodiversity and the production of healthy food. He also acknowledges that mortality in the wild is high, especially among prey species.
Niels Kanstrup, lektor emeritus at Aarhus University, has researched the release of game birds for many years. He describes the practice as literally put and take, since birds are released to be hunted the same year. His research finds that more than half of released pheasants die from causes other than hunting within the first year.
Kanstrup also believes the official figures are incomplete. A 2023 technical report he prepared for Nationalt Center for Miljø og Energi estimated that at least 1.5 million pheasants are released annually. That figure includes private breeding, unreported birds, and eggs and chicks imported from countries such as Poland and France.
Landbrug & Fødevarer, which works politically on behalf of pheasant breeders, says it does not understand the call for change. Helle Reedtz-Thott, chair of the organization’s section for larger farms and a member of Vildtforvaltningsrådet, said a settlement reached in the council three years ago set the framework for bird releases for the next 10 years.
She told DR she is deeply surprised that the agreement is now being questioned, and that she is not aware of new statistics or professional assessments justifying it. Danmarks Naturfredningsforening sits on the council but stood outside the settlement, as it opposes releasing pheasants and game birds in principle.
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Håkansson said the time has come to phase out pheasant releases. The solution, per Danmarks Naturfredningsforening, is to create more nature in Denmark, which the organization says will bring more wildlife by itself.
