A successful expedition in Papua New Guinea captured photos and video of the chicken-size pigeon, highlighting the value of local ecological knowledge as scientists seek out other long-missing species. For a month the researchers had traversed slender mountain ridges, crossed and re-crossed rivers that roared through canyons cloaked in tropical forest, and endured bloodthirsty mosquitoes […]
Tag: Pheasant
Pheasant meat sold for food found to contain many tiny shards of toxic lead
Eating pheasant killed using lead shot is likely to expose consumers to raised levels of lead in their diet, even if the meat is carefully prepared to remove the shotgun pellets and the most damaged tissue. A study has found that pheasants killed by lead shot contain many fragments of lead too small to detect […]
Calls to ban gamebird release to avoid ‘catastrophic’ avian flu outbreak
Conservationists have called for ministers to ban the release of millions of gamebirds to prevent the UK’s wild birds being wiped out by a “catastrophic” avian flu epidemic this winter. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) said there was a significant risk that pheasants, partridge and ducks released for shooting from 1 […]
Gamekeeper jailed after using dogs to fight badgers and foxes
A former gamekeeper at one of Scotland’s best-known grouse moors has been jailed for eight months and banned for owning dogs for 15 years, after using dogs to fight badgers and foxes. Rhys Davies, from Gwynedd, north Wales, admitted earlier this year that he had used five Patterdale terriers for illegal badger and fox-fighting at […]
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 […]
Pheasant shoots are being significantly reduced throughout the UK this year
Because of the import restrictions placed on the birds following an epidemic of avian flu, pheasant shoots are being shut down or significantly reduced this year throughout the UK. Many of the gamebirds shot in the nation are imported from European factory farms. According to experts, this practice has to end or be curtailed since […]
In Sri Lanka, a waterbird flips the parenting paradigm on its head
COLOMBO — When it comes to super dads in the animal kingdom, the striking-looking waterbird known as the pheasant-tailed jacana is in a universe all its own. From incubating the eggs to taking care of the young, the male of the species excels. And in a reversal of the typical roles that play out in […]
South Dakota Bounty Program Kills 134,000 Animals in Three Years
A state pheasant protection program in South Dakota is responsible for killing 134,000 animals over three years. This program awards $10 for every skunk, raccoon, or other kind of predator that is trapped and killed. This program is called the Nest Predator Bounty Program and was started to boost pheasant duck populations by having hunters […]