Stuart Anderson’s trail hunting opinion poll isn’t worth the paper its written on
Stuart Anderson, Tory MP for South Shropshire has released a dodgy opinion poll on the Labour government’s plans to enact a stronger ban on trail hunting. Both Anderson’s poll and his statements at the recent parliamentary debate on rural communities are questionable to say the least. Relative newcomer Anderson is joining the like of far-right […]
Standing With a Sign Shouldn’t Mean Prison: Why We Took Action Yesterday
Yesterday, campaigners from Protect the Wild, Animal Rising, and members of the public came together in London for a Day of Action against the government’s attempt to quietly expand anti-protest powers under the Public Order Act. We gathered outside the Home Office with one clear demand: withdraw the proposal to classify animal testing facilities as […]
What we achieved together for wildlife in 2025
It’s been a massive year for Protect the Wild and for the fight for British wildlife. Honestly, it would take me hours to list everything we’ve done in 2025. So instead, I want to share some of the highlights. The moments that mattered, the progress we made, and what you helped make possible. This was […]
Media outrage over catapults but no condemnation of bird shooting
A 21-year old man in Sevenoaks, Kent has been arrested after videos surfaced of him apparently killing birds with a catapult. This is just the latest in a spate of arrests in Kent and London for animal cruelty with catapults and other makeshift weapons. Police seized 21 catapults during the arrest. The man has since […]
Dead ducks and geese: Lindisfarne, NE, and BASC
On 01 September we reported the shocking news that shooting lobbyists BASC (the British Association for Shooting and Conservation) were “raffling ducks and geese to be shot on National Nature Reserve”. In the post we stated that BASC were holding a raffle to “win two days’ guided wildfowling for you and a friend at Lindisfarne […]
Bluefin tuna: Government ramps up reckless exploitation of endangered sea giant
A three-day tournament is taking place in Falmouth this week, during which over 200 people will be permitted to torture an endangered giant of the sea: the bluefin tuna. Protect the Wild urges readers to speak out against this state-backed, adrenaline- and money-driven cruelty towards these fishes, whose recovery in British waters remains precarious after […]
Moorland Association says ‘Predators rising, Birds disappearing’…but they would, wouldn’t they
The ‘Inglorious 12th’, the start of the grouse shooting season, is just days away. It’s absolutely no coincidence at all, then, that the Moorland Association (MA), the lobby group for grouse shooting estate owners, has published an article which essentially claims that everything they do (in terms of ‘predator control’) is good, and everything 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 […]
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 […]
‘National Parks’ in name only
Long-term subscribers to the Protect the Wild and End Bird Shooting Substacks may have noticed that we often use lower-case and quotation marks when we write ‘national parks’. We do so because the UK’s parks are a long, long way from being the “protected area of land, recognized for its exceptional natural beauty, diverse wildlife, […]
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 […]
RSPB: Number of Hen Harriers killed or missing reaches new high
A new RSPB report – titled unambiguously Hen Harriers in the firing line – shows record numbers of Hen Harriers being illegally killed or going missing in suspicious circumstances over the past five years, and that the majority of the 102 incidents occurred on or near grouse moors. Hen Harriers are a rare, protected bird […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
Government bovineTB strategy must protect badgers from persecution
In 2013, Sky News exposed an illegal badger gassing ring involving 14 farms in southwest England. With the badger cull just getting underway that year, the farmers involved were convinced that killing the wild animals would help to control the spread of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cows and had taken matters into their own hands. […]
England’s most flagrant hunt excises all mention of foxes from its founding doc
The Blackmore and Sparkford Vale Hunt (BSV) is arguably the poster child for fox hunting diehards in Britain. In a curious sign of the times as the trail hunting ban looms, it has removed all mentions of foxes from one of its founding documents. The BSV is a notorious hunt, accounting for almost 13% of […]
YOUGOV: survey shows Brits’ mixed views on hunting wildlife
A recent YouGov poll attempted to gauge the British public’s views on hunting. The findings will be a blow to hunters who want to be recognised as a protected minority group in the UK so they can enjoy their pastime in peace. The poll results suggest that if the hunters’ demand were decided by a […]