Life4dogs
Magazine
Before we dive into context and analysis, here are the official dates for Tenerife as published in the Canary Islands Official Gazette:
With the start of the 2025 hunting season in Tenerife, a subject comes into focus that is traditionally rooted on the island – and at the same time increasingly controversial: rabbit and bird hunting with dogs. Every year between summer and autumn, thousands of hunters roam the island with specially trained Podencos, ferrets, and even birds of prey to hunt rabbits, quails, and partridges – species often dismissed as “small game” but in reality part of a delicate ecosystem
What many regard as “sport” or tradition is for others a massive intrusion into the wildlife of the Canary Islands. The use of hunting dogs – especially Podencos – raises not only animal welfare concerns but also moral questions: many of these animals are poorly kept, overworked, and abandoned or killed at the end of the season. Animal welfare organisations have been sounding the alarm for years: the number of abandoned dogs in Tenerife is rising – especially in late autumn.
From an ecological point of view, hunting is also problematic. Prey species such as rabbits and quails compete directly with endemic birds for food or serve as an important food source for birds of prey. Their decline thus affects the entire food chain. Furthermore, hunting often takes place in ecologically sensitive areas, where ground-breeding birds and young animals retreat.
To provide transparency and understanding and to support the discussion around the 2025 hunting season in Tenerife with concrete facts, we have created an interactive map that shows all official hunting areas with restrictions, training zones, as well as private hunting grounds.
The data is based on official geodata from the Cabildo de Tenerife and publications from the open-data portal datos.tenerife.es. In addition to the classic hunting grounds, specific training areas for pointing dogs and hunting dogs are also mapped.
© Data Source: datos.tenerife.es
The map makes it clear: hunting does not take place only in remote areas, but often in close proximity to nature reserves, hiking trails, or residential areas. This not only leads to ecological risks but also to conflicts with the population and tourism. That hunting does not take place in tourist hotspots such as Playa de las Américas or Los Cristianos is self-explanatory. However, a closer look at the map reveals that a surprising number of hiking areas lie within hunting zones.
It also becomes clear that in places where locals and residents live – even right on their doorstep – hunting training or hunting itself is permitted. During hunting season in Tenerife, utmost caution is therefore advised, particularly for families and individual hikers who simply wish to enjoy the island’s beautiful nature. The protection of the local population, however, seems to play little role.
The total area of Tenerife comprises 2,034 km² according to Wikipedia. Upon inquiry with the island government of Tenerife, all undeclared zones – i.e. areas without markings – are official and controlled hunting grounds and only require the corresponding hunting licence. When considered in percentage relation to the designated zones, one realises the actual extent – particularly in view of the absolute futility of hunting rabbits and other small game.
Since certain nature and landscape protection areas or natural monuments, according to the data provided by the island government, are not designated as zones, hunting is permitted even in these areas, such as the natural monument Los Derriscaderos. The fact that hunting is allowed at Los Derriscaderos was also confirmed to us by the island government by e-mail. What sense does it make to place a specific part of the island under nature or landscape protection or declare it a natural monument, if the local wildlife may be hunted there for pleasure? – Exactly, it makes no sense at all!
Anyone looking for reliable figures on hunting in the Canary Islands on the official website of the regional government will be quickly disappointed. Hunting regulations and general information are available, but current statistics are almost entirely lacking. The last published, summarised hunting data date back to 2019 and refer to overall values for the Canary Islands – not for individual islands such as Tenerife.
Especially with regard to the highly controversial rabbit and bird hunting with dogs, there is a serious lack of information. There are neither current figures on hunting licences issued in Tenerife, nor on the number, type, and keeping of the dogs used (e.g. Podencos or ferrets). Likewise, there are no specific data on the number of rabbits, quails, or partridges shot – instead, general estimates are used.
This lack of current, island-specific data makes a sound evaluation of hunting practices almost impossible. Without transparency, it remains unclear how many animals are actually killed, how severe the burden of hunting dog use is, and in which areas which practices take place. For animal welfare organisations, environmentalists, and the public, this is a serious problem.
Official forecasts based on datasets provided by ISTAC show a significant decline in issued hunting licences, also at island-specific level. The statistic “Licencias de caza expedidas según tipos de licencia por islas de Canarias” documents that the total number of licences issued in the Canary Islands – including Tenerife – has continuously decreased in recent years. Particularly striking is the decline in small game licences (including the use of dogs or ferrets) as well as in traditional hunting permits.
The ongoing decline in issued hunting licences in the Canary Islands is more than just a statistical footnote – it is a clear signal of the dwindling social acceptance of hunting. The once deeply rooted tradition is increasingly losing support, especially when it comes to hunting rabbits, quails, and partridges with dogs. Old narratives of closeness to nature and necessity no longer hold.
This results in a clear mandate for action by politics and administration: it is not enough to merely continue regulating hunting – it must be fundamentally abolished. At the same time, a structural problem becomes apparent: despite declining licence numbers, there is hardly any current, reliable data on hunting practices. This lack of transparency reveals how little control and political management actually exist in the field of hunting. A modern, responsible environmental policy must no longer ignore this.
Sources & Links:
“ISTAC Report: Licencias de caza expedidas según tipos de licencia por islas de Canarias”
“BOC No. 128, 30 June 2025”
“View the natural monument Los Derriscaderos”
“View the email from the Tenerife Island Government”
“Check out the statistics from regional government”
