Non-harvest mortality of cervids

Name: Non-harvest mortality of cervids
Topic: Agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing

Division for Housing, Property, Spatial and Agricultural Statistics

Municipality.

The statistics are published annually, three months after the hunting year has ended.

Collected and revised data are stored securely by Statistics Norway in compliance with applicable legislation on data processing.

Statistics Norway can grant access to the source data (de-identified or anonymised microdata) on which the statistics are based, for researchers and public authorities for the purposes of preparing statistical results and analyses. Access can be granted upon application and subject to conditions. Refer to the details about this at Access to data from Statistics Norway.

The purpose of the statistics is to provide information at municipality level on the reduction of deer outside ordinary hunting. Statistics are provided dating back to the hunting year 1965/66. Until 1951, the reduction outside ordinary hunting was included in the ordinary hunting statistics.

The statistics are compiled for the Directorate of Agriculture and serve as an important tool in the local and national management of deer stocks. Public agencies (ministries, counties, municipalities) and research institutes use the statistics. Other important user groups include professional publications and hunters.

No external users have access to statistics before they are released at 8 a.m. on ssb.no after at least three months’ advance notice in the release calendar. This is one of the most important principles in Statistics Norway for ensuring the equal treatment of users.

Statistics on the registered mortality of large carnivores and eagles are published annually.

The statistics are developed, produced and disseminated pursuant to Act no. 32 of 21 June 2019 relating to official statistics and Statistics Norway (the Statistics Act).

The statistics cover killed game reported to the municipal wildlife management department. In general, all reductions of deer outside ordinary hunting must be reported, but for various reasons this is not always done. The combined data can consequently be viewed as minimum figures.

Each year, a few municipalities fail to report. These municipalities typically have few or no registered cervids that have been shot or died outside of the regular hunting.

The statistics are based on reports from municipal wildlife management departments.

The municipalities report to Statistics Norway via the Dear Register owned by the Directorate of Agriculture.

Editing is defined here as checking, examining and amending data. Regular controls and revisions are carried out on the incoming material. The forms are checked for absolute and possible errors, and errors are corrected during the revision of the forms. Where necessary, the municipal and county authorities are contacted to clarify cases of doubt.

The number of killed animals is summarised and distributed by municipality.

Employees of Statistics Norway have a duty of confidentiality.

Statistics Norway does not publish figures if there is a risk of the respondent’s contribution being identified. This means that, as a general rule, figures are not published if fewer than three units form the basis of a cell in a table or if the contribution of one or two respondents constitutes a very large part of the cell total.

Statistics Norway can make exceptions to the general rule if deemed necessary to meet the requirements of the EEA agreement, if the respondent is a public authority, if the respondent has consented to this, or when the information disclosed is openly accessible to the public.

More information can be found on Statistics Norway’s website under Methods in official statistics, in the ‘Confidentiality’ section.

Breaks in the time series have not occurred since the statistics were started for the hunting year 1965/66. Starting with the hunting year 1990/91, the data were broken down by male animal, female animal and calf.

It can be difficult to determine the sex and age of animals that have been dead for a long time before they are found. In such cases the municipal wildlife management department must use its judgement.

Reporting to Statistics Norway is compulsory for all municipalities. Statistics Norway and the county management remind municipalities that have not forwarded the reports within the time limit. In that way all municipalities are covered.