Labour has called for grouse shooting to be licensed after a big increase in illegal killings of birds of prey during the coronavirus lockdown, the majority of which, investigators say, are linked to the sport. As the grouse shooting season, known as the Glorious 12th, officially began on Wednesday, the shadow environment secretary, Luke Pollard, […]
Tag: gamekeeper
Three gamekeepers suspended over killing of goshawk on Queen’s land
The head gamekeeper and two underkeepers on the Goathland estate were interviewed under caution by North Yorkshire Police on suspicion of being involved in the goshawk’s death in May, with their solicitors present. They voluntarily attended the interviews, but would have been arrested had they not done so. The crime took place on one of […]
Appeal over hen harrier death and disappearances
RSPB Scotland has said it is “devastated” by the death of a hen harrier found shot and the disappearance of two more birds. The dead bird was discovered by a member of the public near Wanlockhead, in the south of Scotland, in June. Two other hen harriers last recorded in northern Scotland have also disappeared […]
Somerset company sells ‘cruel’ safaris where rich hunters can pay to kill animals including giraffes and elephants
A company near Glastonbury has come under fire for selling “cruel” safaris where hunters can pay to kill baboons, monkeys, elephants, giraffes, and zebras. ProStalk, based in Baltonsborough, six miles from Glastonbury, offers a range of packages specialising in trophy hunts across Africa, reports the Mirror. Prices range from £875 to more than £8,000 with […]
A murder of crows: Chris Packham and the countryside war over bird killings
To a surprising extent, to know the crow is to know ourselves,” says John Marzluff in the preface to In the Company of Crows and Ravens. After all, “crows and people share similar traits and social strategies”. Crows and their relatives have captured human imaginations since the paleolithic period, when they were depicted in cave […]
Seven in 10 hen harriers in UK study likely illegally killed
Hen harriers are 10 times more likely to die or disappear from or near to English grouse moors than any other habitat, according to a long-term study which reveals the scale of the illegal persecution of the endangered raptor. An analysis of hen harriers over a decade found 72% of 58 satellite-tagged birds were confirmed […]
Pine marten spotted in Kielder forest for first time in 90 years
The pine marten, a fearsome but diminutive predator driven to extinction in England, has returned to the country’s largest forest for the first time since 1926. Stills and video from a camera trap have recorded a mature pine marten devouring peanut butter put out for red squirrels at a secret location in Kielder forest, Northumberland. […]
Scotland’s mountain hare population is at just 1% of 1950’s level
Culling by grouse moor managers is being blamed for the drastic decline of mountain hares on eastern Scottish moorlands to less than 1% of the level recorded more than 60 years ago. A long-term study by the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and the RSPB analysed counts of the animals on moorland managed for red […]