A ringed partridge or pheasant recovered in Doubs only tells its story if the ring number is reported, and that takes a minute. The page is also meant for the ACCAs, France's approved communal hunting associations, and for the Doubs hunters' federation (FDC 25): it shows what is published and what never is. Doubs is one of the eight departments of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, with Besançon as its prefecture.
The federation and RingFollow
The Doubs hunters' federation (FDC 25) does not use RingFollow at present. Reporting remains possible and useful: the recovery is recorded, then reviewed by a federation; GIBIS plays no part in the validation. The ring number leads back to the original release: if the federation of the department where it took place is registered, it validates; if not, the report waits, filed under department 25.
Reporting a ring found in Doubs
- Open bagues.gibis.fr on your phone and photograph the ring close up, in good light.
- Say where the bird was taken: the municipality is used for validation and never appears in public.
- State the species, pheasant or grey partridge for example, and if you know them, the sex and circumstances of the recovery.
- Send: with no signal, the report goes out on its own as soon as coverage returns.
Why report a recovery
The recovery rate is the number of validated rings divided by the number of birds released. It only exists if hunters report, in Doubs as elsewhere. For an example, see the review of the 2025 pheasant-poult operation (Infochasse mag' no. 72, in French).
RingFollow figures for Doubs
- So far, RingFollow has no validated recovery taken in Doubs.
- The validation queue for Doubs is empty.
- For comparison, all of France: 3,592 ringed birds in 85 releases and 16 validated recoveries (5 participating federations); details on the Statistics page.
Further reading
The ringed birds tracked here come from the GIBIS game farm in Chatte (Isère). For the pheasant strain, see PUR CHASSE® pheasants; for restocking in general, restocking game birds.
Across the borders
Its neighbours are Jura to the south-west, Territoire de Belfort to the north-east and Haute-Saône to the north. All its neighbours belong, like the department itself, to the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. Among its neighbours, the share of agricultural areas ranges from 42% (Territoire de Belfort) to 52% (Haute-Saône), against 48% here (CORINE Land Cover 2018). None of these neighbours tracks its rings on RingFollow; the nearest registered federation is in Ain, about 140 km to the south-west (centre to centre). Next come Isère (about 220 km) and Haute-Loire (about 300 km).
What next?
Once sent, the report is kept; if you left an e-mail address, an acknowledgement follows. Next comes the matching: does the ring belong to a recorded release? If so, and if that department's federation is registered, it reviews the recovery. If no release matches, the report is kept under department 25 and stays out of the public totals. Reports are kept for five hunting seasons after the recovery, then retained only in anonymised form for statistics (see the privacy policy).
The department at a glance
The European CORINE Land Cover inventory (2018) puts agricultural areas at 48% of the area and forests and semi-natural areas at 45%. The rest is shared between artificial surfaces (6%) and wetlands (1%). INSEE counts 563 municipalities and 547,163 inhabitants (2022 population count) over about 5,250 km². The number of municipalities (563) is higher here than in any of its three neighbours. Besides Besançon, the prefecture, the department has two sub-prefectures: Montbéliard and Pontarlier.
Sources: INSEE (official geographic code 2025, 2022 population counts), OFB / EEA (CORINE Land Cover 2018), geo.api.gouv.fr (areas).
The regional picture
The other departments of the region are Saône-et-Loire, Nièvre, Jura, Territoire de Belfort, Côte-d'Or, Haute-Saône and Yonne. None of the eight departments in the region has a federation tracking its rings on RingFollow at present (see the list by region).
Game-bird rings: common questions
Which neighbouring departments track their rings on RingFollow?
None of its direct neighbours. The nearest registered federation is in Ain, about 140 km away between department centres.
How do I recognise a Gibis ring found in Doubs?
A coloured, numbered leg ring, or a numbered coloured plastic wing tag, with no address. A ring engraved with an address belongs to another scheme: the guide explains where to report it.
Who validates a recovery reported in Doubs?
A hunters' federation: the one for the department where the bird was originally released, if it is registered on RingFollow. The Doubs hunters' federation (FDC 25) does not use RingFollow at present, and GIBIS never validates.
Where do I report a pheasant ring found in Doubs?
On bagues.gibis.fr, from a phone: a photo of the ring, the species and the municipality where the bird was taken are enough. No account is needed.
How long is a report from Doubs kept?
Five hunting seasons, the duration of the restocking study. After that it is kept only in anonymised form, without contact details or licence number.
For federations
The situation of every federation is on the Federations page. A federation that would like to track its recoveries can write to gibis@gibis.fr.
To get an idea of a department page with its statistics, see the sample page (simulated data).