A bird taken in Territoire de Belfort carries a coloured, numbered ring? That number is enough to trace it back to its release, whether you hunt near Belfort or in any of the department's 101 municipalities. 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 90 belongs to the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region; its prefecture is Belfort.
Ring tracking in Territoire de Belfort
The Territoire de Belfort hunters' federation (FDC 90) is not among the federations registered on RingFollow. Nothing changes for the hunter: the report is made the same way, and federations, not GIBIS, validate recoveries. 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 90.
Found a ring: what to do
- 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 hare for example, and if you know them, the sex and circumstances of the recovery.
- Send the report; name, phone and e-mail are optional, but an e-mail address gets you an acknowledgement.
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.
What happens to the report
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. Without a match, the report stays on file for Territoire de Belfort, unpublished, until a federation can validate it.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.
The Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region and RingFollow
The other departments of the region are Nièvre, Yonne, Haute-Saône, Saône-et-Loire, Côte-d'Or, Doubs and Jura. None of the eight departments in the region has a federation tracking its rings on RingFollow at present (see the list by region). At 42%, the share of agricultural areas here is the lowest among the eight departments of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region.
One ring, one data point
The recovery rate is the number of validated rings divided by the number of birds released. It only exists if hunters report, in Territoire de Belfort as elsewhere. For an example, see the review of the 2025 pheasant-poult operation (Infochasse mag' no. 72, in French).
What the rings say in Territoire de Belfort
- So far, RingFollow has no validated recovery taken in Territoire de Belfort.
- The validation queue for Territoire de Belfort is empty.
- Nationwide, RingFollow records 85 ringed releases (3,592 birds) and 16 validated recoveries, across 5 participating federations.
Neighbouring departments
Its neighbours are Vosges to the north-west, Haute-Saône to the west, Haut-Rhin to the north-east and Doubs to the south-west. Beyond the regional boundary lies the region of Grand Est. Among its neighbours, the share of forests and semi-natural areas ranges from 44% (Haute-Saône) to 50% (Vosges), against 43% here (CORINE Land Cover 2018). The nearest department whose federation tracks its rings on RingFollow is Ain, about 210 km to the south-west as the crow flies between department centres. Next come Isère (about 285 km) and Haute-Loire (about 365 km).
Key facts about Territoire de Belfort
According to CORINE Land Cover, forests and semi-natural areas covered 43% of the department in 2018, agricultural areas 42%. The rest is shared between artificial surfaces (13%) and water bodies (2%). With 140,255 inhabitants (INSEE, 2022 population count) on about 611 km², the density is roughly 230 inhabitants per km²; the department has 101 municipalities. Among the 96 departments of metropolitan France, it ranks 5th from the bottom for the number of municipalities (101).
Sources: INSEE (official geographic code 2025, 2022 population counts), OFB / EEA (CORINE Land Cover 2018), geo.api.gouv.fr (areas).
Frequently asked questions
Should a ring engraved with an address, found in Territoire de Belfort, 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.
Do I have to give my name to report a ring in Territoire de Belfort?
No. Name, phone and e-mail are optional; an e-mail address only gets you an acknowledgement. Only the validating federation sees what you leave.
Who validates a recovery reported in Territoire de Belfort?
A hunters' federation: the one for the department where the bird was originally released, if it is registered on RingFollow. The Territoire de Belfort hunters' federation (FDC 90) does not use RingFollow at present, and GIBIS never validates.
Why are there no statistics for Territoire de Belfort?
A department's statistics are only published if its federation tracks its rings on RingFollow and at least 3 releases are recorded there. The Territoire de Belfort hunters' federation (FDC 90) does not use RingFollow at present.
How do I report a ringed partridge taken in Territoire de Belfort?
Just as for a pheasant: photo of the ring, number checked, species “red-legged partridge” or “grey partridge”, and the municipality. Nothing differs in Territoire de Belfort.
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).