This page is for anyone who hunts in Tarn and finds a ring on a pheasant or partridge: where to report it, who validates it, and what is known about the department. RingFollow never publishes the name of a hunter, an ACCA (approved communal hunting association) or a municipality, nor any count below 3. Part of the Occitania region, which has 13 departments, the department is administered from Albi.
Validating recoveries in Tarn
The Tarn hunters' federation (FDC 81) does not use RingFollow at present. A ring found in Tarn can still be reported: the report is recorded, and it will be validated by a federation, never by GIBIS. 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 81.
Reporting in four steps
- 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 314 in Tarn: 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 the report; name, phone and e-mail are optional, but an e-mail address gets you an acknowledgement.
The regional picture
The other departments of the region are Gers, Pyrénées-Orientales, Tarn-et-Garonne, Lot, Aveyron, Lozère, Hérault, Haute-Garonne, Gard, Ariège, Aude and Hautes-Pyrénées. None of the 13 departments in the region has a federation tracking its rings on RingFollow at present (see the regional overview).
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 Tarn as elsewhere. For an example, see the review of the 2025 pheasant-poult operation (Infochasse mag' no. 72, in French).
RingFollow figures for Tarn
- So far, RingFollow has no validated recovery taken in Tarn.
- No report linked to the department is awaiting validation.
- For comparison, all of France: 3,592 ringed birds in 85 releases and 16 validated recoveries (5 participating federations); details on the Statistics page.
Across the borders
Its neighbours are Aude to the south, Aveyron to the north-east, Haute-Garonne to the south-west, Tarn-et-Garonne to the north-west and Hérault to the east. All its neighbours belong, like the department itself, to the Occitania region. Among its neighbours, the share of agricultural areas ranges from 39% (Hérault) to 78% (Tarn-et-Garonne), against 66% here (CORINE Land Cover 2018). None of these neighbours tracks its rings on RingFollow; the nearest registered federation is in Haute-Loire, about 200 km to the north-east (centre to centre). Next come Isère (about 315 km) and Ain (about 360 km).
Breeding and restocking
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.
From report to validation
The report is recorded as soon as it arrives, with the photo and the municipality given. The ring number is then matched against known releases; if one took place in a department whose federation is registered, that federation validates the recovery. If no release matches, the report is kept under department 81 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.
The department at a glance
The European CORINE Land Cover inventory (2018) puts agricultural areas at 66% of the area and forests and semi-natural areas at 30%. The rest is mostly artificial surfaces (4%). INSEE counts 314 municipalities and 397,352 inhabitants (2022 population count) over about 5,780 km². Its arrondissements are administered from Albi (prefecture) and Castres.
Sources: INSEE (official geographic code 2025, 2022 population counts), OFB / EEA (CORINE Land Cover 2018), geo.api.gouv.fr (areas).
Frequently asked questions
Can I report a ring without a mobile signal in Tarn?
Yes. The form keeps the report on the phone and sends it as soon as coverage returns, wherever you are in Tarn.
Which neighbouring departments track their rings on RingFollow?
None of its direct neighbours. The nearest registered federation is in Haute-Loire, about 200 km away between department centres.
How do I recognise a Gibis ring found in Tarn?
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.
How long is a report from Tarn 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.
Who validates a recovery reported in Tarn?
A hunters' federation: the one for the department where the bird was originally released, if it is registered on RingFollow. The Tarn hunters' federation (FDC 81) does not use RingFollow at present, and GIBIS never validates.
A federation that would like to track its rings
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).