A bird taken in Réunion carries a coloured, numbered ring? That number is enough to trace it back to its release, whether you hunt near Saint-Denis or in any of the department's 24 municipalities. The page is also meant for the ACCAs, France's approved communal hunting associations, and for the Réunion hunters' federation (FDC 974): it shows what is published and what never is. Its prefecture is Saint-Denis, and INSEE classifies it as both an overseas department and an overseas region.
Ring tracking in Réunion
The Réunion hunters' federation (FDC 974) does not use RingFollow at present. Nothing changes for the hunter: the report is made the same way, and federations, not GIBIS, validate recoveries. 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 Réunion.
From photo to report
- Start with a sharp photo of the ring: the number is read automatically, and you check it.
- Choose the municipality where the bird was taken, from the 24 in Réunion: it locates the recovery but is never published.
- State the species, grey partridge 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.
What a reported ring is for
The recovery rate is the number of validated rings divided by the number of birds released. It only exists if hunters report, in Réunion as elsewhere. For an example, see the review of the 2025 pheasant-poult operation (Infochasse mag' no. 72, in French).
The other overseas departments
The other four overseas departments each have their own page: Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana and Mayotte. No federation registered on RingFollow lies within 400 km; all of them are listed on the Federations page.
The department at a glance
With 889,679 inhabitants (INSEE, 2022 population count) on about 2,520 km², the density is roughly 353 inhabitants per km²; the department has 24 municipalities. At 889,679 inhabitants in 2022, the population here is the highest among the five overseas departments. Its arrondissements are administered from Saint-Denis (prefecture), Saint-Benoît, Saint-Paul and Saint-Pierre.
Sources: INSEE (official geographic code 2025, 2022 population counts), geo.api.gouv.fr (areas).
Recoveries and reports in Réunion
- No validated recovery has been located in Réunion 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.
Breeding and restocking
RingFollow tracks rings; breeding, species and restocking are covered on gibis.fr: game birds for restocking and red-legged and grey partridges.
After you send it
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. Without a match, the report stays on file for Réunion, unpublished, until a federation can validate it. Reports are kept for five hunting seasons after the recovery, then retained only in anonymised form for statistics (see the privacy policy).
Your questions about Réunion
How do I report a ringed partridge taken in Réunion?
Just as for a pheasant: photo of the ring, number checked, species “red-legged partridge” or “grey partridge”, and the municipality. Nothing differs in Réunion.
How long is a report from Réunion 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.
How do I recognise a Gibis ring found in Réunion?
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.
Does GIBIS validate reports from Réunion?
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 Réunion?
A department's statistics are only published if its federation tracks its rings on RingFollow and at least 3 releases are recorded there. The Réunion hunters' federation (FDC 974) does not use RingFollow at present.
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.
Few figures for Réunion so far? See what a well-filled department page looks like (example with simulated data).