Conservationists are suing the UK government over the release of millions of game birds on to land that is home to rare and threatened species. The campaign group Wild Justice has accused ministers of breaching their legal duties to protect sites of high conservation value in England by failing to control the use of large […]
Tag: Mark Avery
Defra to review release of game birds after legal threat
The annual release of more than 50 million non-native game birds into the countryside with no environmental assessment is to be reviewed by the government after campaigners announced a legal challenge. Chris Packham, Mark Avery and Ruth Tingay, of the campaign group Wild Justice, argued that the massive and unregulated increase in the number of […]
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, […]
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 […]
POLL: Should driven grouse shooting be banned?
After 150 years of being treated as a quaint rural pastime, grouse shooting is now under the microscope – unless it reforms it is doomed, and it may drag other country sports down with it. On Saturday, the start of the grouse shooting season, the social media hashtag #inglorious12th was trending, and a social media […]
POLL: Should “Driven Grouse Shooting” be banned?
Driven grouse shooting is a field sport of the United Kingdom. It is popular because it provides a challenge due to the rapid flight of the grouse. The grouse shooting season extends from 12 August, often called the “Glorious Twelfth”, to 10 December each year. Shooting takes place on grouse moors, areas of moorland in […]
POLL: Should buzzards be killed to protect pheasants?
Tim Boxall points at a shape in the field bordering the seven-acre wooded pen where he keeps 1,500 pheasants. “Here you are,” he says. “Look! There’s one over here.” He bends down and prises the remains of a pheasant from the long grass. “That’s a buzzard kill, you can tell by the way it’s been […]