The Department of Agriculture has reinforced the control of the rabbit plague on the Lleida plain with an investment of more than 2 million euros and has doubled the specialist technicians assigned to this operation, who go from 6 to 12. The deployment is concentrated in one of the most affected areas of the country and adds new means to intensify captures throughout the year.
The Minister of Agriculture, Òscar Ordeig, defended this Thursday in Tàrrega the need to maintain a sustained response to an overpopulation that continues to cause damage to agricultural properties. "We have a country-wide problem", he stated during his speech.
"We have a problem of country" - Òscar Ordeig, councillor of Agriculture
Ordeig maintained that the Government will maintain the effort as long as necessary. "From the government we will dedicate the personnel and efforts that are needed, and the time that is needed, to resolve it," he assured. He also admitted that "there has been an imbalance in ecosystemic balances that has led to the proliferation of certain species" and remarked that "it is necessary to act regularly, intensively and throughout the year to recover the balance."
More staff and new means in the plain of Lleida
The reinforcement planned in Lleida incorporates professionals hired by Tragsa and new additions to the staff of the Conselleria itself. The device also adds 3 drone teams with thermal cameras, along with cages, night vision scopes, pick-up vehicles, rifles and ammunition.
In Catalonia as a whole, the Government mobilizes about fifty professionals for the control of this plague. In the case of Lleida, the teams have the capacity to carry out about 8 control actions per week and are culling between 1,500 and 2,000 rabbits each week.
More than 156,000 specimens captured in nine months
Since the activation of the rabbit population control plan in the Lleida plain 9 months ago, 156,140 specimens have been captured. Of this total, 11,814 have been culled in 62 specific actions by the administration.
The evolution of the average density of rabbits points to a decrease in the most affected regions. In La Segarra, El Pla d"Urgell, El Urgell, El Segrià and Les Garrigues it has gone from 202 individuals per km² to 112 on average. The reduction is between 30% and 44%.
Less response time and aid pending resolution
The Generalitat keeps active a platform for property owners to report damages. The response time has been reduced from 21 to 13 days and the teams have already responded to 338 communications.
At the same time, the Ministry of Agriculture expects to resolve in April a line of aid of more than 2 million euros. These subsidies are designed to compensate expenses in protectors, capture devices, night vision scopes, ammunition and contracting of private game control services.
Specific training to expand control capacity
The department also promotes specific training to improve the efficiency of captures. More than 40 training sessions of 15 hours have allowed more than 1,200 people to be enabled. The theoretical part of this itinerary has already begun to be taught online after a demand from the sector.
With this reinforcement, Agriculture seeks to consolidate the reduction detected in several regions of Lleida and sustain a stable device on the ground to contain a plague that the Government considers structural and of general scope in Catalonia.