Coloured ring on the leg, number clearly legible: if you have recovered a farm-reared bird in Vosges, here is where to report it and what happens to the information. 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 Grand Est region, which has ten departments, the department is administered from Épinal.
Validating recoveries in Vosges
The Vosges hunters' federation (FDC 88) does not use RingFollow at present. A ring found in Vosges 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 88.
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 506 in Vosges: it locates the recovery but is never published.
- Pick the species from the list (hare, pheasant, grey partridge and red-legged partridge); sex and circumstances are optional.
- Send: with no signal, the report goes out on its own as soon as coverage returns.
Why report a recovery
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.
RingFollow figures for Vosges
- No validated recovery has been located in Vosges on RingFollow so far.
- No report linked to the department is awaiting validation.
- Nationwide, RingFollow records 85 ringed releases (3,592 birds) and 16 validated recoveries, across 5 participating federations.
Around Vosges
Seven departments border it: Territoire de Belfort to the south-east, Meurthe-et-Moselle to the north, Haute-Saône to the south, Haut-Rhin to the south-east, Bas-Rhin to the north-east, Meuse to the north-west and Haute-Marne to the west. Beyond the regional boundary lies the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Among its neighbours, the share of forests and semi-natural areas ranges from 33% (Meurthe-et-Moselle) to 44% (Haut-Rhin), against 50% here (CORINE Land Cover 2018). The nearest department whose federation tracks its rings on RingFollow is Ain, about 245 km to the south as the crow flies between department centres. Next come Isère (about 330 km) and Haute-Loire (about 395 km).
What happens to the report
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 88 and stays out of the public totals. No hunter, ACCA or municipality is ever named: only totals per department and points rounded to about 1 km.
The breeding side: gibis.fr
RingFollow tracks rings; breeding, species and restocking are covered on gibis.fr: game birds for restocking and red-legged and grey partridges.
Vosges in figures
According to CORINE Land Cover, forests and semi-natural areas covered 50% of the department in 2018, agricultural areas 44%. The rest is mostly artificial surfaces (5%). With 357,248 inhabitants (INSEE, 2022 population count) on about 5,890 km², the density is roughly 61 inhabitants per km²; the department has 506 municipalities. The share of forests and semi-natural areas (50%) is higher here than in any of its seven neighbours. Its arrondissements are administered from Épinal (prefecture), Neufchâteau and Saint-Dié-des-Vosges.
Sources: INSEE (official geographic code 2025, 2022 population counts), OFB / EEA (CORINE Land Cover 2018), geo.api.gouv.fr (areas).
The Grand Est region and RingFollow
The other departments of the region are Aube, Marne, Ardennes, Haute-Marne, Haut-Rhin, Moselle, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Bas-Rhin and Meuse. None of the ten departments in the region has a federation tracking its rings on RingFollow at present (see the regional overview).
Game-bird rings: common questions
How do I recognise a Gibis ring found in Vosges?
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 Vosges?
A hunters' federation: the one for the department where the bird was originally released, if it is registered on RingFollow. The Vosges hunters' federation (FDC 88) does not use RingFollow at present, and GIBIS never validates.
How long is a report from Vosges 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.
Why are there no statistics for Vosges?
A department's statistics are only published if its federation tracks its rings on RingFollow and at least 3 releases are recorded there. The Vosges hunters' federation (FDC 88) does not use RingFollow at present.
Can I report a ring without a mobile signal in Vosges?
Yes. The form keeps the report on the phone and sends it as soon as coverage returns, wherever you are in Vosges.
A federation that would like to track its rings
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).