If subscriber Roger Gregg's February report on hunting Balearean boc in Spain piqued your interest (see Article ID 1800), you should know there has been an important development on this hunt. Namely, a local hunting club on the island of Mallorca, where these animals are found, has petitioned the Spanish wildlife department to allow them control of the hunting for this species. Seems they would like to restrict the hunting on community properties (the equivalent to public land on the island) to hybrid animals, which are a cross between the boc and domestic goats. They claim there are so many of these hybrid animals that they fear the pure-bred species is at stake. The Spanish wildlife department has responded by temporarily closing hunting for this species until they can sort things out.
What's curious about this is that the handful of hunts conducted for international hunters there have been strictly on private land, not community lands. Also, if there are so many hybrid animals that the pure-bred species is in danger, why hasn't the local hunting club done something about it sooner? Insiders suspect the Mallorca hunting club members either do not want outsiders hunting the area, or they see international hunters as a possible cash cow. Either way, they appear to be positioning themselves to control the hunting for this species. We'll let you know when the hunt is reopened and under what conditions.