Police report alarming rise in hare coursing
Police are reporting that warm weather is contributing to a spike in hare coursing incidents. Hare coursing is a cruel and illegal bloodsport that involves the pursuit of hares with greyhounds as opposed to the harriers, beagles or bassets involved in hare hunting. It has been illegal since the passing of the Hunting Act in […]
Mid August fox hunting update – Cubbing foiled in Devon and more
In this mid-August fox hunting update, hunts around the UK have begun the Summer ‘cubbing season’. Cubbing is the disgraceful practice of hunting and killing young foxes and hares (leverets) to give their new hounds a taste for blood. Our stories this month include: – Sabs and monitors organise to stop cubbing. – Police forces […]
Durrell Trust performs yet another U-Turn on deer stalking
For many months, Protect the Wild has been following the grassroots campaign to stop the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust (DWCT) from allowing pay-to-shoot deer stalking at the estate it manages in the Cairngorms. After initially doubling down on its support for trophy hunting, the Trust subsequently bowed to pressure from its supporters and pledged to […]
Pipewell Foot Beagles huntsman, whipper-in and directors plead not guilty
The whipper-in and huntsman from a Northamptonshire based hare hunt have pleaded not guilty to offences under the Hunting Act 2004. The charges were brought after footage of the Pipewell Foot Beagles (PFB) tearing up a hare went viral earlier this year. Huntsman Philip Anthony Saunders and whipper-in Rachael Victoria Lenton from the PFB both […]
Late July Fox Hunting News Update: Reports of early Cubbing and more
In this packed late July fox hunting news update, reports are coming in that some hunts have started cubbing and levereting (hunting fox cubs and baby hares) early. Meanwhile, wildlife defenders are busy organising against them, through direct action in the fields and via targeted campaigning too. Our stories this time include: – Action Against […]
NatureScot licences slaughter of Gannet chicks
To widespread condemnation, NatureScot – Scotland’s nature agency that (supposedly) works “to improve our natural environment in Scotland and inspire everyone to care more about it” – has once again licensed the killing of young, pre-fledged Northern Gannets – known locally as ‘guga’ – on Sula Sgeir, a remote and uninhabited island north of the […]
SUCCESS: Solar farm promises action to release trapped deer
A solar farm appears to have finally taken action to release several deer that have been trapped at its premises since April 10. The company running the farm only reacted after intense pressure from local people, which led to mainstream media coverage over the plight of the deer. Last week the BBC published these images […]
Hen Harrier chicks fledge “against the odds”
Five Hen Harrier chicks from two different nests have fledged “against the odds”, the RSPB has announced in a press-release. What makes this ‘good news’ report so notable is that the odds stacked up against the chicks were not poor weather, lack of prey items, or Avian Flu, but the deliberate killing of the adult […]
Suspended Labour MP consistent opponent of Planning & Infrastructure Bill
The Labour Party is currently steamrolling through its Planning and Infrastructure (PI) Bill (which will strip away many of the remaining environmental protections from the UK’s precious wild regions). The party recently suspended North East Hertfordshire MP Chris Hinchliff after he dared to oppose the government’s plans. Hinchliff has been a consistent critic of the […]
Introducing the Protect the Wild Podcast!
So…this is a bit of a different one for us here at Protect the Wild. For years now we have used Substack as a place to send out our articles, everything from long rants and opinion pieces to short-form news and campaign updates. We’re incredibly proud and fortunate to have built up such an incredible […]
Beagle packs amalgamate, as hunts struggle across the UK
There’s some rare good news for British wildlife. Two more hunts have been forced to amalgamate, according to the Hunt Saboteurs Association. That makes five mergers already this year. Combined with the closure of Scotland’s Dumfriesshire & Stewarty Hunt that means there will be at least six less hunts overall next season. Sabs have […]
Mid July fox hunting update – Fitzwilliam whipper-in pleads guilty and more
Jacob Whalley, whipper-in of the Fitzwilliam Hunt pleaded guilty to hunting a wild mammal with dogs on 4 July. His conviction is the latest in an increasingly long line of hunters deciding that the weight of evidence against them meant that they would be fighting a losing battle in court. Whalley has previously been convicted […]
Lead shot to be phased out by 2029
Emma Hardy, Parliamentary Under-Secretary at Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) has announced “significant new restrictions on lead ammunition”, aiming to “safeguard British wildlife and waterways” from its harmful effects (a disingenuous statement we discuss below). The measures will prohibit shots with over 1% lead and bullets exceeding 3% lead content, and ammunition […]
Hunts are still menacing minks and otters across England and Wales
Mink hunting season is underway and sabs and monitors have been busy ensuring that the UK’s remaining mink hunts are unable to reach their prey. Minks are hunted from March all the way through to September, coinciding with their breeding season. Hunts often leave young mink – known as kits – motherless and sure to […]
Badger dies overnight in snare on shooting estate
In May, Protect the Wild was contacted by a member of the South Yorkshire Badger Group (SYBG), a small group dedicated to the welfare, conservation, study, monitoring and public awareness of badgers. SYBG contacted us after being sent an email by a member of the public who had come across a badger caught in a […]
July fox hunting update: The hypocrisy of pro-hunt puppy shows
As the British countryside breathes a sigh of relief at a short Summer respite from fox hunting (and commercial bird shooting), many hunts are using this time to promote themselves and fundraise for next season. One regular fixture in the pro-hunt calendar are the annual puppy shows and hound shows, where hunting dogs are shown […]
Ban Grouse Shooting Debate June 2025
At almost exactly 16:30 on Monday 30 June, the first of a raft of Conservative politicians reading from their BASC briefing sheets, stood up to start a ‘debate’ about banning grouse shooting. The government had already responded to Wild Justice’s petition, saying to the 104,342 of us that had signed it that it “considers that […]
Police make rare decision to charge beagle pack with illegal hunting
Northamptonshire Police have brought charges against the Pipewell Foot Beagles after a member of the public caught the hunt chasing and killing a hare. Footage of the incident, which occurred on 25 January 2025, circulated widely on social media, subsequently bringing landowner Boughton Estate into disrepute as well. Amongst Northamptonshire Police’s charges is the rare […]
Animal Sentience Committee raises concerns over Labour’s pay-to-trash plans
The British parliament’s new Animal Sentience Committee (ASC) has raised concerns that Labour’s proposed Planning and Infrastructure (PI) Bill will affect animal welfare. Steve Reed, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, is obliged to reply to the committee’s findings within three months. The ASC was set up as a result of […]
Scotland: Green MSP calls for end to tax breaks for shooting estates
In a well-aimed TikTok video published just last week, Ross Greer, the Greens MSP for Western Scotland, has called for an end to tax breaks for wealthy shooting estate owners, saying it’s time “they sold their estates to local communities who could use them for the good of people and the planet.” The video points […]
Animal Aid report: Killing Our Countryside
“I don’t believe that you can profess to love nature, the environment or our wildlife and support the shooting of huge numbers of non-native pheasants & partridges, known to some as ‘Gamebirds’.” That’s Chris Packham’s opening paragraph for a Foreword to Animal Aid’s latest report into the shooting industry. Titled Killing Our Countryside, it looks […]
Mid June fox hunting update: Warwickshire police double-down on campaign of secrecy and more
Warwickshire Police are continuing their campaign of secrecy over their close relationship with the Warwickshire Hunt. They recently refused to disclose correspondence and minutes of meetings between themselves and the Hunt. In other news, Somerset huntsman Guy Landau pleaded guilty to a breach of the Hunting Act at East Huntspill in Somerset in October 2024. Landau’s […]
What’s behind Durrell Trust’s U-turn on deer stalking?
In March 2025 Protect the Wild called-out the Durrell Wildlife and Conservation Trust’s (DWCT) policy of allowing pay-to-shoot deer stalking on the estate it leases in the Cairngorms. After pressure from us, grassroots campaigners and local media the trust has performed a U-turn, announcing that they will end deer-stalking on the Dalnacardoch estate in Perthshire, […]
Moscar Moor: a blight on the Peak District
Almost two years ago Protect the Wild joined a group of activists for a walk on Moscar Moor, a knackered grouse moor within a few miles (as the smoke drifts) of Sheffield (see Reclaim Our Moors Walk 2023). In early June, with another group of activists and united under the growing ‘Reclaim Our Moors’ banner, […]
Hunted in plain sight: Footage isn’t enough under a broken law
The Hunt, the Footage, and the Failure of the Law On 28 December 2024, in Sutton Green near Wrexham, the Wynnstay Hunt was being observed by the dedicated Cheshire Hunt Monitors when a chillingly familiar scene unfolded. Whilst in a woodland, the hounds suddenly broke into “cry” — that unmistakable, frenzied howling triggered when they […]
Five reasons the Planning and Infrastructure bill will be disastrous for British wildlife
Labour’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill aims to allow companies to pay to trash the British countryside. It will do away with existing checks and balances in the planning system and establish a legal framework allowing developers to destroy irreplaceable natural ecosystems. Corporations will pay into a planned Nature Restoration Fund in order to ‘offset’ the […]
Badger Cull has emptied an ancient woodland of its Badgers
A “quiet tragedy” has unfolded in a beautiful ancient woodland in Northamptonshire. Everdon Stubbs has lost its badgers, with previously thriving setts now standing silent, according to the Northamptonshire Badger Group. The badger cull is to blame. Due to surrounding landowners’ participation in the murderous policy, the group says badgers have “vanished” locally, including from […]
Bloodbusiness.info – 1000+ listings!
Despite both the ‘hunting season’ and the ‘blasting birds out of the air season’ being over for the first half of 2025, we have continued to keep building our bloodbusiness.info database. Designed to give us all information about where and which public-facing businesses are connected to hunting with dogs and/or shooting birds or mammals, bloodbusiness […]
Supreme Court rejects Dartmoor shooter’s appeal and backs wild campers
The UK Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by bird shooters Alexander and Diana Darwall and upheld the right to wild camp on Dartmoor. The victory comes after a years long fight for the right to roam. Hedge fund manager Alexander Darwall first embarked on a legal battle against Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA) in […]
Another Hen Harrier vanishes on grouse moor in Yorkshire Dales National Park
There has barely been time to digest the appalling news of the ‘disappearance’ of two breeding male Hen Harriers from Cumbria’s RSPB’s Geltsdale Reserve, but there’s already news of another suspicious disappearance of a Hen Harrier to get our heads around. This time it’s a young female called ‘Sita’. She was satellite-tagged in Lancashire’s Forest […]
Two Hen Harriers ‘missing’ from RSPB’s Geltsdale Reserve
The RSPB has reported this week that two male Hen Harriers have suddenly ‘disappeared’ from their nest sites at Geltsdale in Northern England. The birds vanished within a few days of each other. Another Geltsdale male Hen Harrier was found shot dead on neighbouring land in spring 2023. A Red-listed species in the UK due […]
Hen Harrier Action Launches Wildlife Crime Detection Dog Fundraising Appeal
n 2024, Protect the Wild was proud to co-sponsor an ‘Action for Wildlife Day’ organised by the charity Hen Harrier Action (HHA). HHA celebrates and protects the wildlife of our uplands, including (as its name suggests) the UK’s most persecuted bird of prey, the Hen Harrier. Why the most persecuted? That would be because of […]
We Did It — 100,000 Voices for Badgers!
Thanks to you, our government petition to end the badger cull has now surpassed 100,000 signatures — the threshold needed to trigger a debate in Parliament. This is a massive moment in our fight to protect one of Britain’s most iconic wild animals. And it’s only happened because you signed, shared, and stood up for […]
Is the Badger Cull Working? Ask AI!
Over the last year Protect the Wild has been proud to work with Tom Langton, a highly-respected ecologist who has been a leading figure in the fight against the government’s slaughter of over a quarter of a million badgers to protect the dairy industry. Tom is a major contributor to the Badger Crowd website and […]
RSPCA draws attention to attacks on wildlife with catapults, but is media outrage selective?
There has been a significant increase in the number of reported attacks on wildlife with catapults, says the RSPCA. A petition to ban the sale of catapults and ammunition and the carrying of catapults in public places has gathered over 22.5k signatures. Protect the Wild condemns the wanton killing of wildlife with catapults and other […]
Weak response from Forestry England on QSH’s blatant hunting
On Tuesday 22 April Quantock Staghounds (QSH) killed a young stag in the Quantock Hills. The Hunting Act 2004 clearly prohibits the hunting of mammals with dogs, although stag hunters misuse several loopholes in the law to evade this. The chase crossed both National Trust and Forestry England land. Sabs’ reports pointed out that the […]
Fox hunting news roundup: 02 May 2025
As May commences, there’s more bad news for hunting. Monitors and sabs are reporting suspicions that another hunt amalgamation may well be on the way. Meanwhile two men connected to the notorious Cottesmore Hunt have been convicted of violence against hunt saboteurs. One of them received a ban from attending hunt meets. The police and […]
RSPB: ‘Relief’ brood meddling ends, but still pushing licencing
The RSPB – the nation’s largest and most influential bird charity of course – has released a statement on the news that Natural England has decided not to approve a new licence for ‘brood meddling’, a conservation sham sanctioned by Defra (the government department which sanctioned the iniquities of the equally sham ‘badger cull’). Brood […]
We’ve launched a new tool to end hunting for good
Hunts continue to terrorise wildlife and pets, endanger people, and trample the law with impunity. Despite the Hunting Act 2004 being in place for over 20 years, it is not fit for purpose when it comes to protecting British wildlife, companion animals, or local communities. It is a law riddled with loopholes that hunts exploit […]
Protect the Wild Launches HuntHavoc.info: Exposing Hunt Carnage
Protect the Wild has launched a powerful new website: HuntHavoc.info — created for one clear purpose: to expose the law-breaking, the chaos, and the carnage hunts are causing across Britain — and to help the public take action. For too long, the brutal reality of hunting has been hidden behind a mask of tradition and […]
Four more satellite-tagged Hen Harriers have vanished since January
As we reported earlier this month, on 14 April 2025 Natural England (NE) quietly released a blog titled “Conclusion of Hen Harrier Brood Management Trial”. In it John Holmes, NE’s Director, Strategy – Landscape, Peat and Species, wrote that “The experimental trial of hen harrier ‘brood management’ has ended…illegal killing of hen harriers has continued, […]
Labour’s new planning bill “will lead to permanent biodiversity loss”
Labour’s new Planning and Infrastructure (PI) Bill will have devastating and long-lasting impacts on British wildlife. Protect the Wild explains why. The announcement of the PI Bill has been a wake-up call for many of Britain’s environmental defenders. The legislation, if passed, will allow developers to destroy natural habitats as long as they pay a […]
Protect the Wild supports new parliamentary petition on sports netting
Protect the Wild is supporting a parliamentary petition by a volunteer from the Fox Project calling for the government to require by law that all sports netting be tied up when not in use, to prevent it accidentally ensnaring wildlife and companion animals. We have often highlighted the number of animals who are seriously injured […]
Lyme Disease bacteria “2.5 times more common in ticks in pheasant-release areas”.
The bird shooting industry is responsible for a huge amount of harm. For example it sells vast numbers of birds to be shot dead, traps and kills native predators like foxes and stoats on a huge scale to ‘protect’ its birds, and it is almost entirely responsible for the scourge of raptor persecution. Now various […]
Open consultation: Heather and grass burning in England
In 1984 a Royal Commission on environmental pollution recommended a ban on straw burning to come into force within five years. In June 1993 a new law, the Crop Residues (Burning) Regulations 1993, took effect in England and Wales. The law prohibited the burning of various crop residues – straw or stubble remaining on the […]
The Vesteys: a multi-millionaire hunting family
The Vesteys are a wealthy aristocratic family with an empire built on meat, controlling several brands supplying supermarkets and high street retailers. The family – who used to be the UK’s second richest – are ardent supporters of hunting with strong links to the Countryside Alliance. They can be expected to lead the pushback against […]
Fox hunting news roundup Spring 2025
Protect the Wild is planning to write regular digests showcasing the latest news in the struggle against fox hunting. In this Spring 2025 roundup we have the latest on the sentencing of the ex-Essex & Suffolk (ESH) huntsman Sam Staniland; news on the collapse of one Scottish hunt and the amalgamation of several hunts at […]
‘Friendliest golf course in North London’ kills foxes
There was public outcry in Enfield last week after the Metro ran an expose about Enfield Golf Club – which calls itself the ‘friendliest golf course in North London’ – shooting foxes on their grounds. But, sadly, the culling of foxes and other animals is the norm for businesses in the UK, not an aberration. […]
Ghoulish pictures of the Thurlow Hunt’s ball
Ghoulish pictures have been circulating on social media about what the Thurlow Hunt (TH) got up to at their Hunt Ball. Smiling and dressed for a masquerade, guests are seen posing with a stuffed fox. In several images they are seen stroking the dead animal. In another photo, two ball attendees can be seen standing […]
Lincolnshire farmer/gamekeeper sentenced for crimes relating to raptor persecution
Following a trial at Lincolnshire Magistrates Court earlier this month, farmer/gamekeeper John Bryant, 40, of West Ashby, Horncastle was found guilty of multiple offences following a police investigation into the illegal killing of a Red Kite and two Common Buzzards over a five year period. A statement released by Lincolnshire Police said that Bryant “used […]
GRAPHIC: Warwickshire Hunt whipper-in convicted under Hunting Act.
Benjamin Halsall of the Warwickshire Hunt has been convicted of hunting a wild mammal with dogs in breach of the Hunting Act 2004. ‘Whipper-in’ Halsall, from Shipton-on-Stour, was found guilty by a District Judge at Coventry Magistrates’ Court, after the court was shown footage of the Warwickshire Hunt’s hounds ripping up a fox on 9 […]
Two members of notorious BSV Hunt plead guilty to obstructing sabs
Charlie Mayo and Kieron Bashford of the notorious Blackmore and Sparkford Vale (BSV) Hunt plead guilty to willfully obstructing the highway on 3 March. Mayo is a rider for the BSV, the son of Anthony Mayo who is huntmaster. Bashford is a BSV supporter and occasional terrierman. The two BSV members had tried to block […]