Hunting, alongside urbanisation and habitat loss, represents a serious threat to biodiversity (and to citizens) in our country. Throughout history, several species have been driven to extinction in part by hunting pressure; today, however, it is hunters themselves who risk extinction.

How many hunters are there in Italy?

The number of Italian hunters is in constant decline. At present there are around 700,000 hunters, representing just over one per cent of the population; moreover, according to surveys, eight out of ten Italians want hunting to be abolished. According to data from Istat and Federcaccia, in 1980 there were 1,701,853 hunters, accounting for 3 per cent of the Italian population at the time; by 1990 that figure had fallen to 1,446,935, with an even sharper drop recorded in the following decade — by 2000 the number had fallen to 801,835 hunters. Between 1980 and 2002, the number of Italian hunters fell from 1,700,000 to 730,000, a decrease of around 56 per cent. An unstoppable decline. Some 579,252 hunting licences were issued in 2016, compared with 751,876 licence holders in 2007. Of these, it would be worth understanding how many are genuinely linked to the choice to go hunting. There is a suspicion that some of these licences are used for sporting purposes or even for personal defence.

Furthermore, hunters are ageing. Contrary to their numbers, the average age of hunters is rising (estimated to be between 65 and 78 years old).

1990: the first anti-hunting referendum

The first historic referendum against hunting took place on 3–4 June 1990. Although the majority of Italians came out against hunting, the referendum failed to reach the quorum required for the result to be applied, in part due to calls to stay away from the polls issued by almost all political parties. Voter turnout was 43.4 per cent, and 92.2 per cent of those who voted cast their ballot against hunting. Twenty-five years after that historic referendum, the Radicals produced a new legislative proposal for the comprehensive reform of hunting activity in Italy and launched the campaign #Scacciamoli.

Hunters on private property: the anachronistic article 842

As absurd as it may seem, in Italy an armed person has more rights than a peaceful one. Article 842 of the Civil Code allows hunters to access private land regardless of the owner's wishes. To prevent this violation, the owner is forced to erect a fence meeting the dimensions prescribed by law. "One of the main reasons why Italians are hostile to hunting lies in an absurd article of the Civil Code which, introduced into legislation in 1942 to support the war effort of Italians then engaged in conflict, authorises hunters alone to enter other people's land without the consent of the owners," declared Fulco Pratesi, founder of Wwf Italia.

Human and animal casualties

It is estimated that 150 million animals are killed each year in Italy during the hunting season. Reliable data on the number of animals shot each year are lacking, making it impossible to determine whether hunting can be considered "sustainable" by national, European and international standards. Clearer, though underestimated, are the figures relating to people killed and injured by hunters, which make hunting an extremely serious public safety issue. Since 2007, more than a thousand people have been killed, according to the Associazione per le vittime della caccia, while the current hunting season has claimed 15 lives and left 57 people injured (including 13 non-hunters and two minors). Figures that in no way whatsoever justify this obsolete and violent "hobby".