On 10–24 February this year, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEEP) checked hunters' compliance with hunting rules when luring game animals for food. Environmental inspectors checked 425 baiting sites and found 100 violations.

Wildlife Protection Department officials inspected 425 grooming sites in 109 hunting area units. The highest number of violations (43) was detected by the officers of Kaunas Wildlife Protection Department.  

In hunting areas, baiting sites are set up to lure wild animals with food for the purpose of hunting them and to distract them from crops.  

Environmentalists have encountered a wide range of violations at bait sites, with cases of wild animals being lured with tonnes of food waste or highly unsuitable food, such as pasta, chocolates, bread, and perishable fruit and vegetables, and predators such as wolves being lured with livestock carcasses, amongst other violations, such as the sighting of loose dogs in the units of the hunting areas. 

The most frequent violation detected during this year's campaign was the spillage of feed on the ground at the grooming site. A case of a live animal being used for grooming has been recorded. 

On 18 February 2025, on the basis of the previously available information on the violations of the hunting rules, the officials of the Department of Environmental Protection went to a hunting area unit in the municipality of Marijampolė. During the information check, a fixed hunting tower was found and a metal cage containing a live domestic fowl was discovered nearby. The hen had been left alive as live bait to attract predators.

When the hen was removed from the cage, it was seen to be passive and emaciated as there was no food or water in the cage. The hen had been left outside in sub-zero temperatures and was constantly exposed to stimuli such as precipitation: snow, wind. The person accepted the infringement and regretted it. According to Article 346(16) of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Republic of Lithuania, the confiscation of the animal is provided for and the person is liable to an administrative fine of between €300 and €2000. The person has also committed an offence under Article 290(1) of the ANC of the Republic of Lithuania for the grooming of an animal by using a live animal as a decoy.   

Important  

• In grooming areas, natural feed or bait may not be poured on the ground and may not exceed 100 kg (excluding hay, haylage and lick salt).

• It is prohibited to set up more than 10 wild boar grooming stations in a hunting area unit (1000 ha) and to use more than 100 kg or 125 l of natural feed per grooming station at any one time.    

• Liability for infringements at grooming sites is laid down in Article 290(1) of the Code of Administrative Offences. This offence is punishable by a warning or a fine of between €30 and €90.