Chris Packham/Grouse Shooting - Merged Threads

[David BASC]

BASC will be submitting evidence and are already lobbying hard in Westminster, this has been on going for many months , this includes our White Paper published many months ago for example.

 

I would urge people to use the link on our web site to lobby your MPs

Thanks

David

[panoma1]

I have David but the left wing 'richard head' hasn't even had the courtesy to reply!

[McSpredder]

Whatever you might think of the BBC in general, it is worth watching BBC "Landward" Episode 12 (now available on Iplayer). The bit relating to grouse moors starts about 11 minutes into the programme.

 

An RSPB man recites the usual mantra blaming land management for poor survival of hen harrier, but in the next section there is actual photographic evidence of how harrier chicks suffer from weather conditions and predation.

 

Somebody from SNH shows pictures taken at a harrier nest with five chicks being monitored by camera and says (as nearly as I can scribble down from the broadcast):

"Temperature fluctuation has a really big impact on the chicks. Over the course of this period we find that only one of the original five birds survived, purely due to exposure to the extreme temperature range."

 

At another site, in the south of Scotland, pictures show the chicks being harassed by a fox, and "...we learn later on that in this case the chick was nipped by the fox and it was found dead outwith the nest."

 

This might not come as a surprise to a grouse moor keeper, but it is a change from the line often adopted by some of the pseudo-conservationists and their friends in the media. Maybe the "Landward" broadcast deserves a bit more publicity.

 

Did anybody record that programme for posterity? There does not seem to be a simple way of saving the Iplayer version to disk, but no doubt one of our computer-savvy members will know how it can be done.

[scotslad]

To be fair landward is usually pretty good when it comes to shooting and fishing based stuff.

I'm sure they done a 30min special on grouse shooting once and was actually pretty fair and unbaised

 

Seemingly alll BoP chicks can't regulate heat themselves to around 20ish days old (which is mibee the same for all chicks when u think of young pheasants in rearing sheds crushing each other) so any etreme heat or cold can quite easily kill them.

A few years ago i was speaking to a nest surveyor/ringer and he said lost a lot of chicks due to a mini heatwave at a critical time as not a lot of shelter or shade in the nests (althou more in a HH nest since on the ground)

[markm]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-37456759

[panoma1]

Thanks for that markm I have passed the link on to someone who may find it useful!!

[ShootingEgg]

A very positive response to the petition on saving grouse shooting..

 

Grouse shooting is a legitimate activity that provides economic benefits, jobs and investment in some of our most remote areas and can offer important benefits for wildlife and habitat conservation.

 

A report by the UK shooting community (Public & Corporate Economic Consultants report 2014: The Value of Shooting) concludes that the overall environmental and economic impact of game bird shooting is positive; the industry has estimated that £250 million per year is spent on management activities substantially benefiting conservation. For grouse shooting in particular, according to the Moorland Association, estates in England and Wales spent £52.5 million on managing 149 grouse moors for shooting in 2010. Scottish landowners manage a further 150 moors for shooting grouse. The industry also supports 1,520 full time equivalent jobs and is worth £97.7 million across Great Britain.

 

Grouse shooting takes place in upland areas, which are important for delivering a range of valuable ecosystem services, including food and fibre, water regulation, carbon storage, biodiversity and recreational opportunities for health and wellbeing. The Government is committed to helping create a more sustainable future for the English uplands, including by protecting peatlands through measures such as the Peatland Code.

 

The Government welcomes the proactive approach taken by game keeping organisations to ensure a sustainable, mutually beneficial relationship between shooting and conservation, for example through the British Association for Shooting and Conservations green shoots initiative.

 

The Government recognises the benefits that grouse shooting, and shooting more widely, bring to individuals, the environment and the rural economy. It is for these reasons that the Government believes shooting and other country pursuits such as hunting and fishing should be protected.

 

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

[Scully]

👍👍👍👍

[panoma1]

Great! Now we await the governments response to Avery's spiteful petition!...."money where mouth is" comes to mind!