Hunter found dead ‘died of natural causes’, police say (updated)

It is believed that the hunter who was found dead on Sunday afternoon “died of natural causes”, according to the police.

An investigation is underway, with police currently saying it seems that the man, who was aged 63, lost consciousness while hunting on a mountainside in the area of Kantou.

He was hunting together with a relative, who had been looking for him when he was found dead.

The fire service recovered the man who was transferred to the Limassol General Hospital where his death was confirmed. An autopsy is to be carried out to determine the exact causes of death.

Additionally, a total of 12 fines were issued by the game service on the first day of the official hunting season on Sunday.

Eleven fines were issued for hunting in prohibited areas and one for the hunting of illegal game, according to game service spokesman Petros Anayiotos.

Of the fines, seven were issued in Paphos, two in Nicosia, two in Larnaca and one in Limassol – which was for shooting a francolin outside of its permitted season.

Paphos police spokesman Michalis Nicolaou said the seven hunters fined in that district were spotted in prohibited areas of Asprokremmos dam and Steni village.

Th hunters, aged 35 to 66, were caught in three different instances and fined between €3,000 and €3,300 each.

Their hunting gear, as well as a total of 218 full cartridges and 45 freshly killed birds, were confiscated as evidence.

The game service was pleased overall with “the smooth progress” of the hunting season’s start, Anayiotos said, including with the newly introduced use of the Artemis Cy mobile app developed for the game service under the ministry of the interior.

The application incorporates maps, trails, protected and permitted zones, announcements, emergency contacts, SOS alerts and other useful information for hunters, and on which they must record what has been shot.