Roe deer and wild goat in the crosshairs: Montenegro’s agriculture ministry opens hunting season from October 1 — environment agency says it was never consulted

The roe deer (srna) and its fawn, as well as the wild goat (divokoza) with its young, are no longer permanently protected from hunting in Montenegro — as Vijesti reports, under the Hunting Seasons Regulation adopted by the Ministry of Agriculture led by Vladimir Joković, hunting of these species will be allowed from October 1 to December 31.

The Ministry of Agriculture obtained consent for the regulation from the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Development of the North — which, according to Vijesti, told journalists that the European Commission had been involved during drafting and gave a positive opinion, and that the consent should be understood as part of the wildlife management system, not as a decision for an uncontrolled reduction of the population.

Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency told Vijesti’s newsroom that it was not consulted at all in the procedure before the regulation’s adoption and gave neither a professional opinion, nor remarks, nor consent. The regulation was adopted on September 9, published in the Official Gazette (“Službeni list Crne Gore” no. 135/26, on September 16) and entered into force on September 24; it follows the 2025 amendments to the Law on Wildlife and Hunting, which removed Article 36 on permanent protection.

Belma Šestović, scientific associate for mammalian fauna at Montenegro’s National Parks, notes that a fawn born in May or June is only a few months old when the season opens on October 1, and that scientific management first requires counting the population — “first we need to know what we have, how much we have and in what condition it is — and then what we can hunt.” As Vijesti reports, she also notes that the regulation provides a hunting season for mouflon and stoat as well, species for which there is no data on free-living populations in Montenegro.

According to Monstat data, in 2023 Montenegro had 8,813 roe deer and 2,430 wild goats.