Intensive grouse shooting depends on wildlife crime – protected raptors have to be killed in order for the big ‘bags’ of Red Grouse to be possible. Even if a particular grouse moor does not kill protected raptors, they will benefit if other grouse moors, near and far, do so. Intensive grouse shooting is underpinned by…
Tag: grouse shooting
The Inglorious 12th is Friday. Journalists – get your story here
The story about the start of the grouse shooting season this year – on Friday, the Inglorious 12th – is that more 80,000 people have signed a petition to ban driven grouse shooting. Of 3600+ open e-petitions on the Westminster parliament website this e-petition ranks as the 16th most-signed. I am very, very hopeful that…
Elsewhere in the media: Moorland Association admits criminality?
In a slightly bizarre piece by Jonathan Leake in Yesterday’s Sunday Times the Moorland Association’s Amanda Anderson, last seen at the back of the crowd at the Hen Harrier Day event at Edale, was quoted as follows, ‘If we let the hen harrier in, we will soon have nothing else. That is why we need…
Meanwhile, in a proper newspaper…
Yesterday’s Observer was rather more up to date in its reporting of grouse moor issues than the Torygraph, pointing out that our e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting is where it’s all at! Kevin McKenna, under a headline ‘The Glorious 12th? Conservationists turn their fire on Scotland’s grouse moors‘ writes, ‘This year, though, there will…
Joke coverage by Torygraph
The Telegraph’s Senior Reporter, Patrick Sawer, produced a joke piece of news yesterday. Presumably any journalists who know anything about the environment and grouse shooting were at home having a barbecue over the weekend? The article is constructed around the events of 25 July when the RSPB pulled out of the Defra non-plan for Hen…
Defra – you are a disgrace
Defra is the government department responsible for nature conservation – it’s hard to remember that because it’s a long time since Defra did anything remotely important for nature. I’ll come back to that general issue at a later date but let’s just look at Hen Harriers since this coming weekend sees Hen Harrier rallies in…
Hen Harrier facts
Ahead of this weekend of Hen Harrier rallies let’s just recap some Hen Harrier facts: the latest science says there should be 300+ pairs of Hen Harrier nesting in England – this year there were 3 pairs the latest science says there should be c2600 pairs of Hen Harrier nesting in the UK – in…
Prepare for the Inglorious 12th with a good read
‘A powerful indictment of the grouse-shooting industry‘ – The Guardian ‘No other book this year put the cat among the pigeons (or rather, the game birds) like Avery’s impassioned investigation into driven grouse shooting and its impact on moorland ecology‘ – The Times ‘This book pulls no punches…This is a book you must read whether…
Did you see the latest Chris Packham video? Traps!
The latest Chris Packham video refers to the pole trap incident on the Mossdale Estate near Hawes in the Yorkshire Dales National Park as well as to the legal use of such traps to kill stoats Remember that family of stoats on Springwatch from Minsmere? They are regarded as vermin on a grouse moor –…
Henry goes to Womad and more
Friday evening, Saturday, Sunday and this morning were spent at WOMAD in Wiltshire – I was doing some (very little) work there (about which, more tomorrow), but with Henry the Hen Harrier and some other friends several thousand leaflets were handed out plugging the e-petition. WOMAD was great! And we chatted to some great people…