A bird taken in Indre-et-Loire carries a coloured, numbered ring? That number is enough to trace it back to its release, whether you hunt near Tours or in any of the department's 272 municipalities. The page is also meant for the ACCAs, France's approved communal hunting associations, and for the Indre-et-Loire hunters' federation (FDC 37): it shows what is published and what never is. Part of the Centre-Val de Loire region, which has six departments, the department is administered from Tours.
Who validates recoveries in Indre-et-Loire?
For department 37, no federation uses RingFollow at present. Reporting remains possible and useful: the recovery is recorded, then reviewed by a federation; GIBIS plays no part in the validation. 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 Indre-et-Loire.
From photo to report
- Start with a sharp photo of the ring: the number is read automatically, and you check it.
- Enter the municipality, Tours or any other in the department; no municipality is ever shown publicly.
- If the bird carries a wing tag rather than a leg ring, say so at the same step, together with the species.
- Send the report; name, phone and e-mail are optional, but an e-mail address gets you an acknowledgement.
The breeding side: gibis.fr
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.
What the rings say in Indre-et-Loire
- The count of validated recoveries in Indre-et-Loire still stands at zero.
- The validation queue for Indre-et-Loire 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.
After you send it
The report is recorded as soon as it arrives, with the photo and the municipality given. 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 37 and stays out of the public totals. The public only sees totals per department; points on the national map are rounded to about 1 km.
Within the Centre-Val de Loire region
Besides Indre-et-Loire, the Centre-Val de Loire region comprises Indre, Loiret, Cher, Loir-et-Cher and Eure-et-Loir. None of the six departments in the region has a federation tracking its rings on RingFollow at present (see the list by region).
Land and population
The European CORINE Land Cover inventory (2018) puts agricultural areas at 68% of the area and forests and semi-natural areas at 25%. The rest is shared between artificial surfaces (6%) and water bodies (1%). With 619,362 inhabitants (INSEE, 2022 population count) on about 6,150 km², the density is roughly 101 inhabitants per km²; the department has 272 municipalities. Besides Tours, the prefecture, the department has two sub-prefectures: Chinon and Loches.
Sources: INSEE (official geographic code 2025, 2022 population counts), OFB / EEA (CORINE Land Cover 2018), geo.api.gouv.fr (areas).
What a reported ring is for
ACCAs and federations fund releases; rings are the only way to know what they yield in the field. Consolidated figures are public on the Statistics page, by department.
Around Indre-et-Loire
Its neighbours are Loir-et-Cher to the north-east, Sarthe to the north-west, Vienne to the south, Maine-et-Loire to the west and Indre to the south-east. Beyond the regional boundary lie the regions of Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Pays de la Loire. Among its neighbours, the share of agricultural areas ranges from 62% (Loir-et-Cher) to 81% (Maine-et-Loire), against 68% here (CORINE Land Cover 2018). None of these neighbours tracks its rings on RingFollow; the nearest registered federation is in Haute-Loire, about 335 km to the south-east (centre to centre). Next comes Ain (about 380 km).
Frequently asked questions
Does GIBIS validate reports from Indre-et-Loire?
No, never. Recoveries are validated by the federation of the department where the bird was released, if it is registered on RingFollow.
Should a ring engraved with an address, found in Indre-et-Loire, be reported here?
No. RingFollow only covers game-farm rings, which carry no address. Rings from scientific ringing schemes are reported to those schemes; this site's guide tells you more.
Can I report a ring without a mobile signal in Indre-et-Loire?
Yes. The form keeps the report on the phone and sends it as soon as coverage returns, wherever you are in Indre-et-Loire.
Which neighbouring departments track their rings on RingFollow?
None of its direct neighbours. The nearest registered federation is in Haute-Loire, about 335 km away between department centres.
How long is a report from Indre-et-Loire 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
A registered federation validates the recoveries in its own department and can export its data. Full list: Federations; contact: gibis@gibis.fr.
To get an idea of a department page with its statistics, see the sample page (simulated data).