Agriculture: damage caused by game

Damage caused by game is damage caused by certain game species (hoofed game, wild rabbits and pheasants) to agricultural, forestry or horticultural land and plants, even if they have been separated from the ground but not yet harvested.

If a plot of land belonging to a common hunting district is damaged, the hunting association shall compensate the injured party for the damage. If the hunting tenant has assumed compensation for the damage caused by game in whole or in part, the hunting lessee shall be obliged to pay compensation. In the case of private hunting districts, the provisions apply accordingly.

If soil products whose full value can only be assessed at the time of harvest are damaged by wild game before that date, compensation shall be made for the damage caused by wild game to the extent that it occurs at the time of harvest. However, in determining the amount of damage, account must be taken of whether, in accordance with the principles of sound economic activity, the damage can be compensated for by recultivation in the same marketing year.

Hunting damage is damage caused to land in connection with hunting.

Damage caused by game to vineyards, gardens, orchards, nurseries, avenues, solitary trees, forest crops with wood species other than those occurring in the hunting district or outdoor plantings of horticultural or high-quality commercial plants shall not be compensated if the installation of conventional protective devices which are sufficient under normal conditions to avert the damage has not been carried out.

Usual protective measures to avert damage to game are game fences designed to keep away from

• red deer and fallow deer a minimum height of 1,80 m,
• Roe deer and wild boar must have a minimum height of 1.50 m (wild boar fences against wild boar must also be fixed to the ground against lifting by wild boars),
• mouflon deer have a minimum height of 2.50 m and
• of wild rabbits have a minimum height of 1,20 m above the ground surface and, in this case, consist of wire mesh of not more than 40 mm mesh size and are embedded at least 0,30 m deep in the earth.

The vast majority of all game and hunting damage is settled directly between the injured person and the hunting tenant by mutual agreement.