A ringed partridge or pheasant recovered in Ille-et-Vilaine only tells its story if the ring number is reported, and that takes a minute. Reports are useful to the ACCAs (approved communal hunting associations) and federations that organise releases; the public only ever sees totals per department. On the administrative map, department 35 belongs to the Brittany region; its prefecture is Rennes.
Validating recoveries in Ille-et-Vilaine
For department 35, no federation uses RingFollow at present. A ring found in Ille-et-Vilaine can still be reported: the report is recorded, and it will be validated by a federation, never by GIBIS. If the bird comes from a release in a department whose federation is registered, that federation validates the recovery; otherwise the report stays on file for Ille-et-Vilaine.
Found a ring: what to do
- Open bagues.gibis.fr on your phone and photograph the ring close up, in good light.
- Choose the municipality where the bird was taken, from the 332 in Ille-et-Vilaine: it locates the recovery but is never published.
- Pick the species from the list (hare, red-legged partridge, grey partridge and pheasant); sex and circumstances are optional.
- Send: with no signal, the report goes out on its own as soon as coverage returns.
What a reported ring is for
Every recovery reported gives a date, a distance and a species. Added together, they give an operation's recovery rate and how far the birds disperse after release: enough to adjust future releases in Ille-et-Vilaine.
Within the Brittany region
Besides Ille-et-Vilaine, the Brittany region comprises Finistère, Côtes-d'Armor and Morbihan. None of the four departments in the region has a federation tracking its rings on RingFollow at present (see the regional overview). At 84%, the share of agricultural areas here is the highest among the four departments of the Brittany region.
Land and population
Land cover in 2018 (CORINE Land Cover): agricultural areas lead with 84%, followed by forests and semi-natural areas (9%). The rest is mostly artificial surfaces (7%). About 6,830 km², 332 municipalities and 1,120,666 inhabitants in 2022: those are the orders of magnitude. Besides Rennes, the prefecture, the department has three sub-prefectures: Fougères, Redon and Saint-Malo.
Sources: INSEE (official geographic code 2025, 2022 population counts), OFB / EEA (CORINE Land Cover 2018), geo.api.gouv.fr (areas).
After you send it
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. Without a match, the report stays on file for Ille-et-Vilaine, unpublished, until a federation can validate it. No hunter, ACCA or municipality is ever named: only totals per department and points rounded to about 1 km.
Further reading
Species, delivery and release planning are a matter for the breeder: see game birds for restocking and red-legged and grey partridges on gibis.fr.
Neighbouring departments
Its neighbours are Maine-et-Loire to the south-east, Morbihan to the west, Manche to the north, Côtes-d'Armor to the west, Mayenne to the east and Loire-Atlantique to the south. Beyond the regional boundary lie the regions of Normandy and Pays de la Loire. Among its neighbours, the share of agricultural areas ranges from 74% (Morbihan) to 90% (Manche), against 84% here (CORINE Land Cover 2018). No federation registered on RingFollow lies within 400 km; all of them are listed on the Federations page.
RingFollow figures for Ille-et-Vilaine
- The count of validated recoveries in Ille-et-Vilaine still stands at zero.
- The validation queue for Ille-et-Vilaine is empty.
- Nationwide, RingFollow records 85 ringed releases (3,592 birds) and 16 validated recoveries, across 5 participating federations.
Frequently asked questions
What if the ring number is illegible?
Take several well-lit photos from different angles, then correct the suggested number if needed. The photos stay attached to the report for the validating federation.
How long is a report from Ille-et-Vilaine 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.
Does GIBIS validate reports from Ille-et-Vilaine?
No, never. Recoveries are validated by the federation of the department where the bird was released, if it is registered on RingFollow.
Why are there no statistics for Ille-et-Vilaine?
A department's statistics are only published if its federation tracks its rings on RingFollow and at least 3 releases are recorded there. The Ille-et-Vilaine hunters' federation (FDC 35) does not use RingFollow at present.
Can I report a ring without a mobile signal in Ille-et-Vilaine?
Yes. The form keeps the report on the phone and sends it as soon as coverage returns, wherever you are in Ille-et-Vilaine.
A federation that would like to track its rings
Hunter or ACCA official in Ille-et-Vilaine? You can raise it with your federation. All federations and their situation: Federations.
Few figures for Ille-et-Vilaine so far? See what a well-filled department page looks like (example with simulated data).