Enquiry as to whether spring traps set by laying horizontal snares on the ground and activated by treading on the horizontal plate are permitted in the EU

19.1.2016

Question for written answer E-000336-16
to the Commission
Rule 130
Bronis Ropė (Verts/ALE)

Council Regulation (EEC) No 3254/91 prohibits the use of leg‐hold traps. Pursuant to the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention), Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (Habitats Directive) and their annexes, the use of non‐selective traps is forbidden when hunting for listed animals. In Lithuania, however, devices that employ leg traps are still in use.

We draw your attention to the traps seen in the following photographs: http://www.vilkai.lt/image01.jpg, http://www.vilkai.lt/image02.jpg. These photographs were printed in a book published in Lithuania in 2015 on hunting (the complete text is available online at http://www.vaga.lt/didzioji-lietuvos-medziokles-knyga-2-tomas). The book states that this sort of spring trap with large snares, which is used to trap the Eurasian beaver, is authorised for use in the EU. However, these devices work by trapping limbs after the horizontal plate has been activated by being trod on. Although the size of the snares means that they can kill a beaver outright, if a larger animal — for example, a wolf — is caught in the trap, it will be trapped by its leg. In Lithuania, otters and other larger animals, such as wolves or roe deer, may unintentionally be caught in traps set for beavers

1. Could the Commission say whether the traps seen in the above photographs could be deemed selective and thus authorised for use in the EU?2. Does the Commission not feel that the use of such traps to hunt the Eurasian beaver is not compliant with the provisions of the Bern Convention, the Habitats Directive and Council Regulation (EEC) No 3254/91?