Success of traditional restocking of red-legged partridge for hunting purposes in areas of low density of northeast Spain Aragon

Release of pen-reared red-legged partridges (Alectoris rufa) is a common ga me management tool in Spain. In spire of three million partridges raised ye arly in captivity, at present time, effectiveness of traditional restocking has received little research. Consequently, we investigated the survival o f 62 radio-tagged partridges under two different release conditions: scatte red and grouped, imitating for our purposes the procedure employed by Spani sh hunters and gamekeepers. The null-hypothesis of no difference between the survival probabilities obs erved in the grouped versus disperse releases was rejected (p = 0.019). In both experiences, 25 to 34% of the mortality took place in the first 72 hou rs after release. Thereafter, the average survival of the disperse-released partridges was clearly higher than those of the grouped ones, with 37.4 +/ - 1.8% of the former surviving the first month in comparison to only 5.8 +/ - 1.1% of the latter (figure). Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and golden eagle (Aq uila chrysaetos) were suspected predators in 37 of 39 kills (95%). Traditional restocking of red-legged partridges in Spain is nor an effectiv e management tool to enhance wild populations. In any case, the technique m ay be improved by scattering the release sites.