Rural bodies clash over plan to destroy buzzards' nests
Conservationists have locked horns with the Government over “shocking” plans that would allow buzzard nests to be destroyed to protect pheasant shoots.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is to spend up to £375,000 researching ways to keep buzzards from targeting captive-reared pheasants, which are not native to the UK.
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Proposed methods include destroying nests to prevent birds breeding, catching and relocating buzzards to places such as falconry centres or providing alternative food sources for the predators.
The RSPB said the idea of taking wild buzzards into captivity or destroying their nests was “totally unacceptable”, and criticised Defra for spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on the project when money was tight for conservation measures.
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RSPB conservation director Martin Harper said: “Destroying nests is completely unjustified, and catching and removing buzzards is unlikely to reduce predation levels, as another buzzard will quickly take its place. Imprisoning buzzards or destroying their nests, when wildlife and economic interests collide, is totally unacceptable.”
The Countryside Alliance welcomed the study although its shooting campaign manager David Taylor, added that the study had been “an expensive exercise” commissioned “to appease a group of people who believe that raptors have a greater significance than any other bird”.
In a document setting out plans for the project, Defra said the 2011 National Gamekeepers Organisation survey found that 75% of gamekeepers believed buzzards had a harmful effect on pheasant shoots.
Buzzard populations soared by 146% between 1995 and 2009, although numbers have since levelled off. They are thought to target pheasants if they find there is a readily available source of food and the Government’s conservation agency Natural England has received a number of requests to license the killing of the bird of prey, which is a protected species.
In one case it was claimed up to 30% of young pheasants were lost to buzzards, making the shoot unsustainable. But the RSPB said buzzards were eradicated from swathes of Britain by persecution and were only now recovering, as a result of legal protection a change in attitude in landowners.
Nigel Middleton, of the Hawk and Owl Conservation Trust, said destroying the nests of buzzards was tantamount to persecution, adding: “We believe that alternatives should always be sought to lethal control where the commercial interests of humans come into conflict with birds of prey.”
Defra said it was seeking funding to protect pheasants while “making sure the buzzard population continues to thrive”.
Comments
by Arfurmo
Saturday, May 26 2012, 9:53AM
“£375.000 for research to keep buzzards from targetting captive- reared-,pheasants. What a marvellous 'windfall' for Defra. I note well that they claim the buzzards are not native to the UK. Well then hardly a reason to rid our shores of this beuatiful birds. Im sure that there are many other species in the country not native to our shores that frequent food suppliers are Defra to include them all?”
by Arfurmo
Saturday, May 26 2012, 7:54AM
“If it', stationary paint it! If it moves salute it! The old 'army adage' somewhat differently adopted by mindless goverment now that says: If it promotes money for the the rich estate owners and their gamekeepers it allows encouragment of many other 'Gung Ho' well off- to join shooting parties killing game birds such as pheasants and anything else that flies over.Just another form of 'bear baiting' or 'cock fighting' No doubt those 'gun happy' misfits would like to be offerred the chance to wipe out the' badger' given the chance. This medievil sport that brough about the extinction of many rare birds a century or so ago, hunted down , shot, and stuffed, to be sold off in glass cabinets to museums and rich estate owners as sporting trophies.”
by Mark2Plym
Saturday, May 26 2012, 12:18AM
“In the late 60's to heard a buzzard's mew high up in the sky was a rare treat due to DDT etc, now each day i can hear that cry to me it is sound of the countryside recovering, driving around the country I see pheasants all the time, a few taking by a buzzard is not going to make any impact. Also rabbits are a natural prey of buzzards a farmer is happy with less rabbits I expect than pheasants that also eat their crops.”
by PlimuffLad
Thursday, May 24 2012, 10:59PM
“Another load of rubbish from this excuse of a government. Let's remove an indigenous species, so that Tories can shoot an alien one?
And well said, crazypenguin. I also live in the countryside, on Dartmoor, and the Countryside Alliance certainly do not speak for me.
Funny reading your comments too, red_diesel, regarding that awfully nasty fox, those were my thoughts exactly! That "smallholding" looks just like the traveller camp up the top of Haldon Hill. Chickens almost totally unprotected, it's no wonder the fox wanted a piece of that action is it? Absolutely beautiful fox too :-)”
by crazypenguin
Thursday, May 24 2012, 9:51PM
“yes lets kill the wild buzzards so theyll be more pheasents to shoot next hunting season.....tally ho chaps!....not suprising the countryside toffs and landowners society.......sorry countryside alliance are linked to this action....they dont represent the ordinary country dewllers like myself im sick of hearing there views in the media talking on `behalf` of country folk........contary to popular belief the majority of us are not posh blood thirsty sadists who get a jolly out of killing animals for fun.”
by Charlespk
Thursday, May 24 2012, 9:05PM
“What has that got to do with anything?
Are you saying he trained the fox?
It's more likely that some moron had been feeding it.”
by Red_Diesel
Thursday, May 24 2012, 8:29PM
“A lot of smallhoders are close to the travelling world. I have friends who are travellers and friends who are smallholders. And the smallholders are often travellers who are forced off the road.”
by Charlespk
Thursday, May 24 2012, 7:42PM
“You can call me a control freak if you like, but if you press the right buttons it's amazing what prejudices you can expose.
"I glanced at th video of a fox. But it is the people who were more interesting and the place. It looks a bit like a traveller's site, and the bloke is a bit travellerish too."
Is that what you think of a Midland's smallholder who keeps chickens? . . You'll always know where you can find that chap at Sunset, unlike the creeps who steel lead from church roofs”
by Red_Diesel
Thursday, May 24 2012, 4:06PM
“There is a Conservative government, and Jim Paice the agriculture minister said (according to Peter Kendall) that it would be the government that would tell Defra, Natural England, and the like to do what the government wants. It's not for Defra and NE to suggest to the government, like under Labour. (Source, an NFU meeting addressed by Kendall)
Tories shoot game, So there must be lots of game for Tories to shoot.”
by Red_Diesel
Thursday, May 24 2012, 3:58PM
“//You can so easily tell who don't give a monkey about the loss of the ground nesting birds//
I do. You can eat ground nesting birds. Pheasant, partridge, grouse, ptamigen (sp?), capecalie (sp?). Yum, yum!
Oh - it's skylarks that you ar worrying about. Don't care for them, too small for a meal.”