POLL: Should the ‘Glorious Twelfth’, which is on the brink after a poor grouse breeding season, be cancelled and permanently banned?

POLL: Should the ‘Glorious Twelfth’, which is on the brink after a poor grouse breeding season, be cancelled and permanently banned?

The “Glorious Twelfth” may be effectively cancelled this year, shooting estates have said, as the grouse breeding season has been so poor. Hard frosts while the birds were laying has meant that fewer were born, and some eggs are still yet to hatch. Sleet and cold rain during the hatching season earlier this summer caused […]

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MPs to debate intensive grouse hunting after 111,000 people sign petition

MPs to debate intensive grouse hunting after 111,000 people sign petition

MPs will debate banning intensive grouse shooting after 111,000 people signed a petition demanding curbs. Campaigners, including TV presenter Chris Packham, want the bloodsport axed, warning it harms the environment and wildlife. The petition says: “It’s time to provide an opportunity to implement immediate, legislative and meaningful measures to address this abhorrently destructive practice.” MPs […]

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Wild lynx could be reintroduced into Scottish Highlands

Wild lynx could be reintroduced into Scottish Highlands

A consortium of conservationists that hopes to release wild lynx into the Scottish Highlands has launched a year-long study to see whether the public supports their reintroduction. The study, part-funded by two billionaire Danish estate owners in the Highlands, Anders Povlsen and Lisbet Rausing, will test whether farmers, landowners and rural communities will agree to […]

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87 bird crime incidents last year and just one conviction, says RSPB

87 bird crime incidents last year and just one conviction, says RSPB

Birds of prey were shot, poisoned, trapped or illegally killed in 87 confirmed incidents in 2018 that led to just one successful conviction, according to the RSPB’s annual Birdcrime report. This persecution of raptors including peregrines, buzzards, red kites and owls is the tip of the iceberg, with many more birds vanishing in mysterious circumstances, […]

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