Standing up for Nature
With 10 days to go, Findlay Wilde’s thunderclap has passed 7.5m social reach – how high can we get it? Well, we could certainly get the social reach up even higher if all the potential RSPB and Wildlife Trust Twitter accounts signed up and I’m hoping they will soon because I told Findlay I’d do…
A bit more reading for Fareshare and Ian Botham (see earlier blog post). The antisocial nature of shooting a poisonous element into food – especially food that you give away to poor people – has long been recognised by US hunters who, dare I say it, do not always appear to be the most flexible…
News on the RSPB Skydancer blog reveals that this year there were 3 successful Hen Harrier nests in England (out of 7 attempts) – they produced 10 fledged young. Considering this was generally regarded as an excellent vole year – whereas 2016 was a poor vole year – the standstill in Hen Harrier breeding numbers…
Following Ian Botham’s car crash radio interview yesterday it is worth considering the whole business of donating shot game to the poor and needy. Sounds like a good idea but things are often more complicated than they seem. We can learn from US experience. The Country Food Trust is donating meals containing shot game to…
National Trust staff are responding badly to enquiries from their membership about why on earth they are seeking to recruit a new shooting tenant to 4000+ha of their upland landholding in the Peak District. Having ousted their current tenant because of what could be called irreconcilable differences, probably over the future of birds of prey…
Ian Carter has worked as an ornithologist for more than 25 years. He was involved with the Red Kite reintroduction programme in England and has a keen interest in the conservation of raptors, bird reintroductions and wildlife management more generally. He is particularly interested in human attitudes towards wildlife and the complex ways in which…
The Peak District National Park wants to know what you think – so you should tell them. You’ve left it a bit late because your response has to be in by midnight (I assume) tonight. Here is some fairly detailed guidance on how you could make your views known on the wildlife-paucity of the Peak…
The news that the National Trust has completely blanked the petition by local people, including a good number of National Trust members, and is seeking to let a large area of its High Peak moorland to shooting interests has not gone down well. This version of the NT advert appeared on the Moorland Vision blog…
England’s former greatest cricketer was doing his annual job of showing shooting in a poor light this morning. Oh for a live petition now! It would have amassed tens of thousands of signatures after this boorish performance by Beefy – Radio 5 Live breakfast at 08:40 – 08:48). It’s clear that 5Live regarded ‘Both’ as…
It’s been a busy day today: OneKind’s Mountain Hare report: I found this report really interesting. I certainly hadn’t realised that Mountain Hare shooting was a business as well as a peculiarly ill-judged form of ‘pest’ control. A number of businesses advertising recreational mountain hare killing on their websites were approached by OneKind for…