The issue of the droppings of 60 million released gamebirds was not one that was large in my mind when I started thinking about Pheasants and Red-legged Partridges but that is because I am a blinkered ornithologist. What has emerged (see previous blog) is that those droppings are a great threat to many habitats: while…
Category: REARED GAMEBIRDS
Gamebirds victory (6) – there is no evidence?
Tim Bonner made an extraordinarily brash claim on Today on Saturday; There is no evidence whatsoever that Pheasant or Red-legged Partridge are doing any significant damage to these special sites. There is simply no evidence. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000p0fj It is unlikely that DEFRA would have been forced to bring in regulation of gamebird releases (by Wild Justice’s…
Gamebirds victory (5) – writing to Wales
Today Wild Justice’s lawyers wrote to the Welsh government and asked them what are their plans in respect of gamebird releases in Wales in 2021.
Gamebirds victory (4) – what Tim Bonner said, and what he might have meant.
Tim Bonner is the gift that keeps on giving. In our little chat on Today (at 1hr 50mins into programme) on Saturday morning he said a couple of things that are worth examining in more detail. Here they are: There is no evidence whatsoever that Pheasant or Red-legged Partridge are doing any significant damage to…
Gamebirds victory (3) – another aspect of illegality
May I refer you to document EB2, page 116, section 4.2 of those released by DEFRA on Friday as part of their caving in to the Wild Justice legal challenge? Here it is: It’s only really the first sentence you need bother to read although the whole of sections 2 and 3 are worth looking…
Gamebirds victory (2) – how many gamebirds?
Wild Justice started its legal challenge of gamebird releases in July 2019. The latest published figures for gamebird releases of which we were aware were those by the GWCT in 2018 (Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust. 2018a. How many birds are shot in the UK? Game and Wildlife Review 2017: 41–42.) which referred to the…
Gamebirds victory (1) – what sort of victory?
On Today on Saturday morning (in the last 10 minutes of the programme) Mishal Husain described Wild Justice as a campaigning organisation, and we wouldn’t disagree with that, but our victory in this matter is not a campaigning victory it is a legal victory. We have not persuaded government to change their policy or the…
Don’t forget the Red-legged Partridges
Red-legged Partridges are common birds on much of continental Europe but they are non-natives here in the UK. I’d be less worried about their impacts on native fauna and flora than that of Pheasants whose natural range brings them nowhere near the UK. But the fact that over 10 million RLPs are released for recreational…
A week tomorrow
A week tomorrow the Wild Justice judicial review of the legality of releasing tens of millions of non-native gamebirds, without ensuring that those releases will not damage sites of conservation importance, will take place. The legal arguments are best left to lawyers but the science is open to anyone to inspect and comment upon. Here…
Gamebird shooting today
The most controversial aspect of gamebird shooting is whether you call its unwilling participants gamebirds or game birds. Aside from that it is widely agreed that things must change. But mass shooting of gamebirds has become a habit, a bad habit, and the macho so-called leaders of the shooting industry are so stuck in the…