The Icelandic Institute of Natural History has warned that ravens are on their way to become endangered in Iceland due to uncontrolled hunting. At least 3,000 ravens are killed each year. The hunting places a significant pressure on the raven population, seen by the fact that at the beginning of the 1990s, the last time ravens were counted in Iceland, the total population was an estimated at 13,000 ravens.
Read more: Video: Friendly raven visits local woman at work
No legal limits are on raven hunting, and they may be killed year-round. Ravens are killed by farmers and others due to damage ravens can cause, especially to eider nests. Eider down is a valuable commodity and ravens, who are extremely opportunistic, are known to attack eider nests. Most ravens, however, are killed around landfills and dumpsites where they come to feed of food waste.
Read more: Police intervene in a battle between a man armed with shotgun and one determined raven
An ornithologist with the Institute of Natural History told the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service that the raven population in Iceland has been in steady decline for the past decades, and that unless the development is checked ravens could easily come close to disappearing. He explained that while it was understandable that ravens and many seabirds and gulls had been killed as pests times had changed and many of these birds were now under extreme stress.
The Icelandic Institute of Natural History has warned that ravens are on their way to become endangered in Iceland due to uncontrolled hunting. At least 3,000 ravens are killed each year. The hunting places a significant pressure on the raven population, seen by the fact that at the beginning of the 1990s, the last time ravens were counted in Iceland, the total population was an estimated at 13,000 ravens.
Read more: Video: Friendly raven visits local woman at work
No legal limits are on raven hunting, and they may be killed year-round. Ravens are killed by farmers and others due to damage ravens can cause, especially to eider nests. Eider down is a valuable commodity and ravens, who are extremely opportunistic, are known to attack eider nests. Most ravens, however, are killed around landfills and dumpsites where they come to feed of food waste.
Read more: Police intervene in a battle between a man armed with shotgun and one determined raven
An ornithologist with the Institute of Natural History told the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service that the raven population in Iceland has been in steady decline for the past decades, and that unless the development is checked ravens could easily come close to disappearing. He explained that while it was understandable that ravens and many seabirds and gulls had been killed as pests times had changed and many of these birds were now under extreme stress.
