Ban in place since 2021 has increased numbers of globally vulnerable pigeon species that is close to extinction in UK

Turtle doves will be allowed to be shot for sport again across Europe, as the EU lifts a ban on hunting that was credited with the species’ tentative recovery.

The EU will allow hunters to shoot 132,000 birds across Spain, France and Italy after a population boom for the threatened bird in western Europe due to a hunting ban that came into effect in 2021.