From 12 August to early December, it’s usually possible to walk into old-fashioned fine dining establishments across the country and order the rare British delicacy that is grouse, frequently served with bread sauce and game chips. But those hoping to eat the tiny game bird in the gilded Ritz dining room in London will be […]
Tag: birds of prey
Game over for UK shooting season as bird flu and Brexit take a heavy toll
Bird flu has managed to do to game shooting what animal rights activists have been trying to achieve for decades – with a little help from Brexit. Dozens of pheasant and partridge shoots have been called off ahead of the shooting season after an unprecedented outbreak of avian flu in France left gamekeepers in the […]
Cheetah reintroduction in Malawi brings vultures back to the skies
Four species of critically endangered vulture have returned to a park in southern Malawi from which they disappeared more than 20 years ago, and their comeback is credited to the reintroduction of cheetahs, lions and the carcasses the cats left behind, conservationists say. In 2017, seven cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) were reintroduced to Liwonde National Park […]
Andean eagles have managed to adapt to fragmenting habitats — for now
Even the greatest, most mobile predators aren’t immune to the shrinking of South America’s forests. The endangered black-and-chestnut eagle (Spizaetus isidori), one of the largest raptors on the continent, has been forced to change its behavior to survive in increasingly fragmented habitats and growing threats from humans. A new study in Global Ecology and Conservation […]
Britain’s birds of prey – many of which were once hunted to extinction – are having a golden summer this year
I watch in awe as an osprey settles on a Scots pine and returns with a large fish for its hungry chicks. Moments later, I’m up close and personal with a red kite, its nest waving in the breeze. Finally, I see a baby peregrine falcon take its first flight – the world’s fastest living […]
Rare white-tailed sea eagle poisoned with banned bendiocarb pesticide in West Sussex
After eating a pesticide forbidden for outdoor use in England, a rare white-tailed eagle was killed in West Sussex. Conservationists had been hearing rumors of the bird’s death for a long time, but police had yet to confirm it. A laboratory report confirming the usage of the prohibited herbicide bendiocarb has now proven that the […]
47% of Arizona’s bald eagles had chronic lead poisoning in 2021
PHOENIX — A new study from the journal Science found that almost half of bald eagles and golden eagles in Arizona and 37 other states suffered from chronic lead poisoning. The main way eagles consume lead is through their diet. Lead bullets and shot used in hunting game and varmints break apart on impact, and […]
European raptors including eagles, goshawks and vultures significantly reduced in number due to lead ammunition poisoning
According to the first study to evaluate these implications across Europe, poisoning caused by preying on or scavenging animals shot by hunters using lead ammunition has left many raptors—or birds of prey—far smaller than they should be. When birds such as eagles and Red Kites scavenge carcasses or consume injured animals with toxic lead pieces […]