Raptor persecution: if we think ‘shooting’ first who can blame us?
The recent discovery of the bodies of five dead young Goshawks dumped in a wood in Suffolk drew an instant response that shooting estates and their gamekeeper employees were likely to be involved. That feeling was compounded by x-rays that showed shotgun pellets in all five birds. Shooting lobbyists like BASC (the British Association of […]
Is it true that without shooting there’d be no pheasants here?
Is it true that without shooting there’d be no pheasants here? The short answer is, that’s probably true, yes. Pheasants are absolutely beautiful birds, so does that mean we should be grateful to shooting for ensuring there are pheasants for us to look at? Not at all. And that’s because we really ought to look […]
Where is shooting vulnerable
Where is shooting vulnerable? While many of us have come together to ‘protect the wild’ bird shooting is purely selfish and serves no common good. We will work to counter the ‘conservation’ greenwashing the industry employs. It uses birds as live targets. That shouldn’t be allowed. Non-animal shooting is now available, replicating the so-called ‘thrill’ […]
Ending Bird Shooting – let’s talk about foxes
How do you persuade an audience that is primarily interested in fighting foxhunting to become as concerned about the bird shooting industry? Oddly enough (and as a lifelong birder I’m writing this through slightly gritted teeth as it were), it’s probably not by talking about birds… Last year Keep the Ban, which was built […]
Is bird shooting ethical?
Is bird shooting ethical? Of course not. It is simply unethical and immoral to raise and sell huge numbers of birds as live targets for consumers (the clients of shooting estates and shooting syndicates) to maim or kill. It is unethical to kill protected birds of prey and a countless number of foxes to ‘protect’ […]
Why are there bird shooting ‘seasons’
Why are there bird shooting ‘seasons’? The vast majority of birds that breed in or regularly visit the UK are rightly protected by law and can not be harmed or killed at any time of the year. For those unfortunate species that were long ago declared as ‘game’ or ‘quarry’ though (and there are no […]
Why will you never be neutral on bird shooting?
Why won’t Protect the Wild ever be neutral on bird shooting? If we don’t speak out against the shooting industry, then no matter how much we might try to convince ourselves otherwise: we are supporting the killing of millions and millions of birds for ‘fun’, supporting the trapping and snaring of countless foxes and other […]
Is bird shooting a ‘sport’?
Is bird shooting a ‘sport’? Whether bird shooting is a ‘sport’ or not depends on how you define ‘sport’: a contest between equals, perhaps(in which case definitely not), or an activity that involves physical activity and skill (in which case ‘barely’). Looking at the origin of the word ‘sport’ doesn’t really help either: ‘sport’ comes […]
Birds and the fishing industry
Birds and the fishing industry Compared with the billions of fish that are killed every year, the impact on birds of the commercial and recreational fishing industries might not seem to be important. The reality though is that huge numbers of birds die as ‘bycatch’ caught on hooks or in nets or discarded fishing gear; […]
Birds and the agriculture industry
Birds and the Agriculture Industry Unlike the shooting industry, intensive farming doesn’t specifically target birds but the enormous land use changes that have taken place since the 1950s have caused many bird populations to crash. The UK has lost an estimated 19 million breeding pairs since widespread monitoring began in the late 1960s, and many […]
Shooting Estates to publish a register of all mammals they trap and snare
Shooting Estates must keep a public register of all mammals they trap and snare. Go straight to sign Every day tens of thousands of traps and snares are laid by gamekeepers on shooting estates. Countless foxes and other animals are being killed every day to protect shooting’s profits – yet there is no legal requirement […]
Protect the Wild End Shooting
A few weeks ago Keep the Ban became Protect the Wild. Our change is far more than just a re-brand. While foxes and enforcing the ban on foxhunting will always remain a key focus, with Protect the Wild we are expanding what we do. Part of that will see us bringing our drive, our commitment […]
Bird Shooting FAQ
Bird Shooting FAQs Why does Protect the Wild call bird shooting an industry? Why does Protect the Wild call bird shooting an industry? Learn More Is bird shooting ethical? Is bird shooting ethical? Learn More Is bird shooting a ‘sport’? Is bird shooting a ‘sport’? Learn More Why will Protect the Wild never be ‘neutral’ […]
End Shooting
End Bird Shooting Protect the Wild wants to end bird shooting Bird shooting is: Catastrophic for animals – not just for the millions of birds killed by ‘sportsmen’ each year of course but also for the mammals that are snared and trapped in huge numbers on shooting estates. Terrible for us – because of the […]
Highlow Estate Shooting Investigation
Highlow Estate Shoot Investigation Who cares? Not the shooting industry. The shooting industry is all about selling birds to shooters to use as live targets on ‘days out’. It supports a cruel hobby that masquerades as a ‘sport’. Shooting profits by rearing flocks of near-tame birds to kill, promising its clients huge ‘bags’ (the disrespectful […]
RSPB’s review of lowland ‘gamebird’ shooting: “Bleak picture”
Has the RSPB finally run out of patience with the shooting industry? The country’s largest bird charity speaks out – but in an oddly low-key way. Tied for over a century to a Constitution enshrined in 1904 which insists it should be ‘neutral’ on shooting, the RSPB (by far the most important and most effective […]
Shocking footage released of pheasant shooting estate in Lancashire
Shocking footage of dead and dying birds filmed on shooting estate in Lancashire. In September 2022 investigators from the Hunt Investigation Team, in collaboration with Protect the Wild, captured undercover footage from pheasant pens at the Leighton Hall shooting estate in Carnforth, Lancashire. Seasoned investigators were shocked at what they found. Many young pheasants were […]
Woodock shooting: MPs say Defra didn’t respond to government petition
Woodock shooting: MPs say Defra didn’t respond to government petition. Back in early July, the campaigning group Wild Justice (set up by Dr Mark Avery, Dr Ruth Tingay, and Chris Packham) launched a petition asking Defra (the government department responsible for the environment) to look at shortening the so-called’ season’ in which shooters are allowed […]
Nothing glorious about the ‘Inglorious 12th’
The 12th of August (the ‘Inglorious 12th’) marks the start of a key ‘season’ for the shooting industry. Over the next 121 days that industry will aim to sell hundreds of thousands of Red Grouse to shooters to kill.
Eyes on the Skies: raising awareness of raptor persecution in the Yorkshire Dales National Park
A Yorkshire Dales charity is launching a new campaign to tackle the national park’s appalling reputation as a ‘blackspot for raptor persecution’. The Yorkshire Dales, a national park dominated by grouse shooting, is well-known for shocking levels of raptor persecution – the illegal killing of birds of prey. Data suggests that twenty-nine satellite-tagged Hen Harriers […]
Epidemic of Gun Violence Engulfs 50 Million Victims Each Year
October 1st: “The UK is facing what campaigners describe as an epidemic of gun violence, with over 50 million victims involved annually. Individuals who step in to disrupt or expose the violence risk prosecution under legislation on aggravated trespass. This legal framework, campaigners argue, is designed less to protect public safety than to maintain the […]
North York Moors National Park – NOT a safe place for wildlife
As we enter another shooting ‘season’, Protect the Wild is publishing a series of articles about the key regions of the UK that attract both tourists who want to enjoy the wildlife and landscape, and hunters and shooters who have an altogether less healthy relationship with the countryside around them. The cubbing season began in […]
500 pheasants a day: billionaire’s Wiltshire shoot raises all sorts of questions
As both pro-shoot and pro-wildlife sides know, the pheasant shooting ‘season’ begins again in less than two weeks (see Protect the Wild’s Cruelty Timeline for details of ‘seasons’ for birds and mammals across the UK). Between October 1st and February 1st, around 50 million pheasants, ten million Red-legged Partridges, and around a million Mallards, almost […]
Hen Harrier Southern Reintroduction project dumped
“Following a thorough review, it has become clear that Natural England is no longer in a position to provide the long-term funding and resource needed to continue delivering the Hen Harrier Southern Reintroduction project, despite the progress to date. The difficult decision has therefore been made to conclude this project.” With this pitiable ‘poverty-pleading’ disclaimer […]
Dartmoor: one of England’s most hunted and shot-over pieces of real estate.
As the cubbing and hunting ‘season’ starts again in earnest, we are also getting ever closer to the beginning of another few months of gunning down pheasants and partridges. Protect the Wild is looking at key regions of the UK that attract both tourists who want to enjoy the wildlife and landscape and hunters and […]
BASC raffling ducks and geese on National Nature Reserve
If anything sums up the disgraceful ‘normalisation’ of killing birds in England, it’s surely the ‘raffle’ that shooting lobbyists BASC (the British Association of Shooting and Conservation) are holding to “win two days’ guided wildfowling for you and a friend at Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve.” BASC notes in its sickening promotion that “Lindisfarne is renowned […]
Yet another ‘partnership’ to protect birds of prey collapses
In April 2023, the Peak District National Park Authority issued a statement that the Peak District Bird of Prey Initiative was to close as persecution cases continued (see Sun sets on failed Peak District Bird of Prey Initiative). Set up in 2011 by the National Park Authority, the ‘initiative’ was intended to restore populations of […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
The Star: Duke of Rutland urged to sell ‘trashed’ grouse moor ‘to people of Sheffield’
“Conservation campaigners are set to bid for a “trashed” grouse moor near Sheffield to “restore it to its former glory.” So starts an article in Sheffield’s The Star, a local paper which Wikipedia says has a very respectable total average issue readership of 105,498. Titled “Sheffield moors: Duke of Rutland urged to sell ‘trashed’ grouse […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
Planning bill petition
Scrap the Planning and Infrastructure Bill 11132 people have taken action so far. Help us reach 15000 First name Last name Email Phone Subject Letter Dear Steve Reed MP and Matthew Pennycook MP I am writing to express my deep concern over the Planning and Infrastructure (PI) Bill recently introduced by your government. If passed, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Hen Harier Brood Meddling: “Illegal killing of Hen Harriers has continued.”
On the 14th March 2025 a blog on the Natural England (NE) website announced the ‘Conclusion of the Hen Harrier Brood Management Trial’. With a curious mix of exaggeration and understatement, John Holmes, NE’s Director, Strategy – Landscape, Peat and Species, wrote that “The experimental trial of hen harrier ‘brood management’ has ended, concluding that […]
Durrell Trust: doubling down on support for deer stalking
The Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust (DWCT) was in the mainstream media last year, when Trust supporters and an ex-director spoke out against DWCT’s support for deer stalking in Scotland. We thought we’d see if media attention had changed the Trust’s position. The answer is a resounding no! DWCT is a well-known Jersey-based conservation charity, founded […]
Beaufort Hunt greenwashing reputation with charity donation
The Beaufort Hunt (BH) are boasting on Facebook that they have donated £2500 to domestic abuse charity Society Without Abuse (SWA – formerly Swindon Women’s Aid). In response Wiltshire Hunt Saboteurs have pointed out that members of the Beaufort have been “perpetrating acts of violence” against animals, female wildlife defenders and others for years. Could […]
Revealed: Vets Fighting to Bring Back Hunting and Badger Gassing
A group of veterinarians have been banging the drum about badgers in recent years, blaming the wild animals for causing bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cows to an even greater extent than the government typically does. Indeed, they have criticised the country’s bTB policy for not focusing on badgers enough. This policy has seen hundreds of […]
How Protect the Wild fought for wildlife in 2024
As 2024 draws to a close, Protect the Wild is reflecting on our work over the last year. We campaigned hard to secure the change that Britain’s brilliant but beleaguered wildlife so desperately needs. While achieving an end to the persecution of wild animals is most definitely a work in progress, we wanted to share […]
Listing the businesses that enable the Wynnstay Hunt
Based near Wrexham, the Wynnstay Hunt is one of the UK’s most lawbreaking hunts, regularly chasing and killing foxes. Many of its members and supporters have faced legal action, and the hunt is renowned for the violence of its staff and supporters towards monitors and sabs. Yet this notorious hunt is going out hunting several […]