England’s vast grouse shooting estates receive millions of pounds in public subsidies according to an investigation by Friends of the Earth. Thirty of the estates received £4m of taxpayer’s money between them in 2014, the year examined by the pressure group, including one owned by the Duke of Westminster, the richest landowner in Britain with […]
Tag: shooting
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 […]
POLL: Should Norway’s plan to cull its wolves be abandoned?
Norway is planning to cull more than two-thirds of its remaining wolves in a step that environmental groups say will be disastrous for the dwindling members of the species in the wild. There are estimated to be about 68 wolves remaining in the wilderness areas of Norway, concentrated in the south-east of the country, but […]
Eight tagged golden eagles disappear in Scottish Highlands
Scottish grouse moor owners have been warned they face much tougher regulation after an inquiry was launched into the disappearance of legally protected golden eagles in the Highlands. Roseanna Cunningham, the Scottish environment secretary, ordered the review after eight golden eagles vanished in an area of the Monadhliath mountains known for its grouse shooting, south […]
POLL: Should the killing of buzzards to protect pheasants be allowed?
Every year, thousands of pheasants are slaughtered by cars. What would we say if the government’s conservation watchdog issued a licence to allow a gamekeeper to shoot 10 careless motorists? Natural England has instead issued a licence to allow a gamekeeper to kill something like us: a legally protected predator, a clever, adaptable native species […]
POLL: Should the use of snares be banned in the UK?
There was a documentary released recently which looked at ‘balance’ in journalism and politics. It pointed out how the desire for balance can actually skew the real story – take climate change for example. The vast majority of scientists now believe that climate change is real. However, news stories about the subject are obliged to […]
POLL: Should driven grouse-shooting be banned?
The season for red grouse-shooting is about to begin. But its driven form, where beaters flush birds towards the guns, is having a terrible impact on the environment and on other birdlife, to the cost of every nature-lover and taxpayer. Mark Avery, former conservation director of the RSPB, explains why this most unsporting sport should […]