From strictly protected to huntable all year round – with no other animal species is the arbitrary unequal treatment between federal states as blatant as with the golden jackal.
Vienna (OTS) –April 19th is World Jackal Day. The golden jackal, a representative of this fascinating group of canids, is also native to Austria. For an Austrian golden jackal, however, it makes a big difference which federal state he is in. It is not allowed to be hunted in four federal states, in another four temporarily (with a closed season) and in Tyrol even all year round without a closed season. This unequal treatment is completely unfounded and arbitrary. Hunting is also against EU law. The golden jackal shows very clearly that the backward state hunting laws must be replaced by a progressive federal law, as called for by the referendum for a federal hunting law.
In Vienna, Lower Austria, Salzburg and Vorarlberg, the golden jackal is protected or protected all year round. What is bizarre, however, is that the Lower Austrian State Hunting Association refuses to recognize this. Instead, he publicly claims that the golden jackal is a “predator” and is therefore subject to virtually unlimited persecution. Wishful thinking or deliberate disinformation on the part of the Lower Austrian State Hunting Association? In any case, the fact is that the golden jackal cannot be hunted in Lower Austria and is therefore subject to the nature conservation law. This was only confirmed by a legal opinion at the beginning of the year.
In Burgenland, Carinthia, Upper Austria and Styria, state hunting law stipulates that golden jackals from 1.10. until 15.3. may be killed by hunting. This is against EU law as the golden jackal is a protected species that can only be hunted if it is in a favorable conservation status, which is not the case in Austria with its small golden jackal population. This was also made unequivocally clear by the legal opinion.
These four federal states were therefore asked to review the regulations. Due to the still lack of implementation of the Aarhus Convention in Austria (infringement proceedings are ongoing), this is currently the only legal remedy available to environmental organizations. However, in the three months since the applications for regulation review were submitted, none of these state governments have responded substantively.
As if that wasn’t bad enough in terms of the rule of law, Tyrol is going one better. Here the golden jackal can be shot all year round, even now when it is raising its young. This regulation is not “only” contrary to EU law, but also unconstitutional because it contradicts the Tyrolean Hunting Act. The state government also admitted this to the state ombudsman. When this regulation was amended at the end of March, the big surprise came: the unconstitutional provision was simply retained! “A slap in the face of the constitutional state with the butt of a gun,” says Rudolf Winkelmayer, representative of the referendum for a federal hunting law, horrified. “The hatred of the hunting community for all potential ‘competitors’ is apparently so great and the compliance of politicians is so great that even the basic principles of our republic are being trampled on. This needs to end now. We now need a federal hunting law that is consistent with the principles of animal, species and nature conservation.”
Questions & Contact:
Initiative for a federal hunting law Clemens Purtscher 0677/61220082 contact@bundesjagdgesetz.at
