Protect the Wild: a new chapter
Protect the Wild: new chapter in the fight to end wildlife persecution I set up Keep the Ban as nothing more than a Facebook page with 0 followers in 2015. I was sickened and angered by the possibility of fox hunting becoming legal again and the ban on hunting wild mammals being overturned.Fast-forward over seven […]
Mammals
Mammals Some of the most diverse and recognisable wildlife in the world lives in the British countryside. However every year wild mammals in the UK suffer as a result of human activity, both deliberately (such as hunting, snaring, and culling) and accidentally (in road accidents and by ingesting litter for example). At Protect the Wild […]
Half of world’s bird species in decline
One in eight bird species in danger of extinction warns State of the World’s Birds 2022 report Birdlife International, the global partnership of NGOs that works to conserve birds and their habitats, has released a follow-up to their 2018 State of Birds Report. In the latest report, State of the World’s Birds 2022, based on […]
FAQs
Protect the Wild FAQs What is Protect the Wild’s mission statement? Our mission statement is to empower people to protect British wildlife. We do that in different ways including: supporting front line groups; providing information through our Substack, animations, and social media; and campaigning hard for legislative change. Ultimately our aim is to end hunting, […]
Our impact
Our Impact Founded in 2015 Protect the Wild is a non-profit organisation working to empower people to protect British wildlife. We want to end hunting, end shooting, and end badger persecution. We do so by informing the public about wildlife matters, using multimedia to campaign on key issues, and supporting activists taking direct action in […]
Who we are
Empowering people to protect British wildlife Founded in 2015 Protect the Wild is a non-profit organisation working to empower people to protect British wildlife. Our mission is to end hunting, end shooting and end Badger persecution. Whether it’s through creating hard-hiting animations, working to change key pieces of legislation, or reporting events in a powerful […]
News
NEWS Breaking news on our work and issues affecting wildlife. We update our site regularly so check back here or subscribe to our newsletter. You can also follow us on our socials to keep up to date. Latest newsFoxShootingRaptor PersecutionBadgerDeerInvestigateCampaign Latest news Cat found nearly ‘cut in two’ after a snare wrapped around his stomach […]
Weasel facts
European Weasel Scientific name: Mustela nivalis At a glance Weasels are widespread throughout Britain and are probably our most numerous carnivore. They have virtually no legal protection and many are killed in traps by gamekeepers every year. Shooting probably ‘loses’ more pheasants every year to collisions with cars than they do to Weasels. One of […]
Shrew facts
Facts about Shrews Common Shrew: Sorex araneus Pygmy Shrew: Sorex minutus Water Shrew: Neomys fodiens (Greater white-toothed Shrew: Crocidura russula) (Lesser White-toothed Shrew: Crocidura sauveolens) At a glance Britain has three native species of shrew, with two others introduced or invasive. They are key prey items for Tawny and Barn Owls, Stoats, Weasels, and Foxes. […]
Rabbit facts
Facts about the European Rabbit Scientific name: Oryctolagus cuniculus At a glance Native to the Iberian Peninsula, rabbits were brought to the UK by Romans as pets and to eat. The arrival of myxomatosis in the UK in 1953 saw a staggering 99% death rate in rabbits. Rabbits are now so established in many ecosystems […]
Pine Marten facts
Facts about the Pine Marten Scientific name: Martes martes At a glance Mostly restricted to Scotland with increasing numbers in northern and southern England and Wales Predates on non-native Grey Squirrels significantly more than on native Red Squirrels If we want to see more Pine Martens we need to plant more woodland Short-legged, bushy-tailed, cat-sized […]
Otter facts
Facts about the Eurasian Otter Scientific name: Lutra lutra At a glance Lacking blubber, otters are protected from the cold by their dense fur. Areas can be made more attractive to otters by establishing “otter havens” kept free from human disturbance. Almost wiped out in the UK by the 1960s there may be as many […]
Mink facts
Facts about the American Mink Scientific name: Neovison vison At a glance Brought here in 1929 by fur farmers and released into the wild by animal activists in the 1950s. Mink numbers appear to be controlled by the return of Otters. Mink numbers in Britain could have fallen by as much as 45% in 20 […]
Hare facts
Facts about the Brown Hare Scientific name: Lepus europaeus At a glance Introduced by the Romans, Brown Hares were listed as a priority species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan in 1994.Once widespread in the UK, Beavers were over-hunted and became extinct here in the 16th century. In the early 19th century 4 million Brown […]
Fox facts
Facts about the Red Fox Scientific name: Vulpes vulpes At a glance The Red Fox has the largest natural distribution of any land mammal except human beings. The UK population is around 375,000, perhaps one-third are resident in our towns and cities. Thousands are snared every year to protect pheasants and grouse for shooting. One […]
Deer facts
Facts about Deer At a glance All six species of deer found in Britain have increased since the turn of the century. Deer have no natural predators in Britain – they have all been wiped out by ‘land managers’. Despite the Hunting Act 2004 deer are still being hunted and killed illegally. There are six […]
Boar facts
Facts about the Wild Boar Scientific name: Sus scrofa At a glance Ancestor of the domestic pig. The wild boar was once widespread here but was wiped out by over-hunting by the 1300s. In the 1990s sightings of free-living boar became relatively common again. The Wild Boar (or Eurasian Wild Pig) is an omnivorous mammal […]
Beaver facts
Facts about the Eurasian Beaver Scientific name: Castor fiber At a glance Once widespread in the UK, Beavers were over-hunted and became extinct here in the 16th century. Reintroduction programmes are now underway to restore ‘nature’s engineer’ to our waterways. Licences to kill Beavers and remove their dams have been enthusiastically embraced. Large, covered in […]
Wildlife
Wildlife Some of the most diverse and recognisable wildlife in the world lives right here in the British countryside. However every year millions of wild animals in the UK suffer as a result of human activity. Organised harm comes from hunting and shooting and the deliberate targeting of mammals and birds by businesses built on […]
Protecting the Wild Equipment Fund
Protecting the Wild Equipment Fund The Protecting the Wild Equipment Fund was set up in summer 2023 to help put ‘eyes in the field‘, empowering people to stop hunting with hounds, tackle bird shooting, and halt the badger cull. We know that many groups or individuals who monitor or patrol are volunteers. They often have […]
Vale of White Horse Hunt expose
Vale of White Horse Hunt Exposé On January 5th 2022 Protect The Wild supported the Hunt Investigation Team (HIT) with their investigation of the Vale of White Horse Hunt which saw them deliberately and intentionally hunt a fox. VWH member and land-owner Verity Drewett can be seen visibly shouting and identifying the fox to the […]
Shooting of Beaufort hounds
The Beaufort Hunt Hound Shooting Exposé Undercover investigation exposes shooting of hunting hounds Duke Of Beaufort Hunt Shoots Dead Four Hounds In 2021 a long running investigation carried out by the Hunt Investigation Team and supported by Protect the Wild, revealed harrowing undercover footage showing the Duke of Beaufort Hunt shooting dead four of their […]
South Herefordshire hunt investigation
SOUTH HEREFORDSHIREHUNT INVESTIGATION HITStatement In May 2016, HIT uncovered shocking scenes from within the kennel complex of the South Herefordshire Hunt. Members of the SHH were filmed with a supply of caged fox cubs aged around 8 weeks old, which they took one by one into the kennels full of hounds. The hounds were heard […]
RSPB predator control
RSPB PREDATOR CONTROL HITStatement 2018 Whilst working on the Barlow Hunt Investigation in spring 2018, HIT was contacted by a a whistleblower about the RSPB’s Curlew Management Trial Programme. The whistleblower was highly concerned about the scale of Larsen trapping and employment of a bloodsports enthusiast on a Peak District RSPB reserve. They asked HIT […]
Undercover Investigations
Undercover Investigations A key element of our mission to expose wildlife criminals and end the persecution of wildlife in the British countryside is through supporting hard-hitting exposés. That’s why undercover investigations and covert operations are at the heart of what we do – and always will be. We ringfence funding to support ground-breaking operations uncovering […]
Who we’ve supported
Who we’ve Supported Not all heroes wear capes! There are extraordinary people doing extraordinary things every day, often suffering insult and injury doing their utmost to protect foxes, birds, badgers and other wildlife. Brave individuals working tirelessly in the field to save and protect animals. We regularly offer funding to those who need support and […]
Volunteer
Volunteer We are a small, dedicated (and friendly) team at Protect the Wild and are always grateful for offers of help. Not sure what you can do? It will help us make better suggestions if you’d be prepared to share a few details about yourself. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve ever volunteered before, but do […]
Adopt a deer
ADOPT A DEER TODAY Traditional deer hunting with hounds was banned in England and Wales under the 2004 Hunting Act. It was banned in Scotland under the Wild Mammals Protection (Scotland) Act 2002, and further tightened by the passing of the Hunting With Dogs (Scotland) Bill in January 2023. Yet three stag hunts continue to […]
Adopt a fox cub
ADOPT A FOX CUB TODAY Who doesn’t love an adorable fox cub? Sadly, fox hunts don’t. Did you know that hunts partake in an activity called ‘cubbing? Cubbing usually takes place between August and October, just before the main fox hunting season starts. It’s a disgusting way to train hunting hounds to kill and give […]
Adopt a fox
ADOPT A FOX TODAY It’s been twenty years since the passing of the Hunting Act, but foxes are still the victims of hunts. Chased from their homes, often having to leave their families and young behind, they flee the pursuing hounds until they are finally too exhausted to run anymore. These beautiful animals are killed […]
Adopt an animal
Adopt an Animal Today Adopt an animal* with Protect the Wild and support our on-going work to empower people to protect British wildlife and to end hunting and shooting in the UK. Help us speak up for animals who cannot speak for themselves. You can adopt either as a one-off gift or a monthly direct […]
Major landowners
Major Landowners Landowners across the country continue to allow so-called ‘trail hunting’ on their land. Trail hunting is nothing but a “smokescreen” for the illegal hunting of wildlife and unless decision makers and landowners take a stand, animals will continue to be killed. Towards the end of 2020 a leaked webinar hosted by the Hunting Office showed […]
Mini’s Law campaign
MINI’S LAW CAMPAIGN On 6th March 2021 Mini the cat was killed by out-of-control hunting hounds outside her home in west Cornwall. After the mauling, the huntsman was filmed throwing Mini’s lifeless body over a neighbour’s fence in a cowardly attempt to hide the evidence. Unfortunately, this was not an isolated incident and there are […]
Forestry England campaign
FORESTRY ENGLAND CAMPAIGN Forestry England is responsible for managing and promoting the nation’s forests owned by the Government of the United Kingdom. However, what many people do not realise is that up until 2020 Forestry England gave permissions for ‘trail hunts’ to use its land. Following a year-long campaign ran by Protect the Wild and […]
Our Campaigns
Our Campaigns Our campaigns will continue to push to end hunting and shooting in the UK and empower people to protect British wildlife. End Hunting We want a proper ban on all hunting with hounds End Hunting We want a proper ban on all hunting with hounds Learn More End Shooting We want to end […]
Hare coursing
End Hare Hunting & Coursing When we are talking about hare hunting and hare coursing we are normally talking about the Brown Hare, the once familiar species of hare found in the lowlands and on farmland. Whilst not as well-known as fox hunting and deer hunting, there are still a large number of hunts and […]
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 […]
What is the ‘research and observation’ loophole used to hunt deer?
England has three remaining staghound packs, two of which claim they carry out ‘research and observation’ as a cover to continue chasing and murdering deer. This is a smokescreen. But it’s permitted thanks to a glaring loophole in the Hunting Act. Schedule 1.9 of the Hunting Act is commonly known as the “research and observation […]
Two days with hunt sabs stopping grouse shoots
I spent two days with hunt sabs that stopped grouse shoots by Glen Black Each year since 2017, the Hunt Saboteurs Association has co-ordinated a national day of action against grouse shooting on 12 August. This is the so-called Glorious Twelfth, the opening day of the grouse shooting season. For 2022, though, the HSA […]
Grouse Moors and the ‘Licencing Lifeline’
Grouse Moors and the ‘Licencing Lifeline’ The grouse shooting industry is not a ‘glorious’ tradition. It is the slaughter of up to half a million grouse a year, the destruction of countless native predators in traps and snares, illegal raptor persecution and poison baits, and the burning of internationally-scarce habitats. All so that a few […]
Defra refusing Woodcock the protection they need
Defra and Woodcocks – government won’t protect Woodcock so we must The government recently responded to an online petition to ‘Limit the Shooting Season of Woodcock’ launched by Wild Justice (Mark Avery, Ruth Tingay, and Chris Packham). I’ve already blogged about this petition and my hesitancy to sign it but in case you don’t have […]
Royal Immunity from crime
Royal Immunity from crime…and those Sandringham Hen Harriers Two days ago (July 14th) The Guardian revealed the extent to which, since 1967, the Queen has legislated personal exemptions from more than 160 offences that the rest of us would be cautioned or arrested for. In ‘Revealed: Queen’s sweeping immunity from more than 160 laws’, Severin […]
What do Wiltshire Police and the Met have in common?
Wiltshire Police, one of the smallest forces in England (which means that scarce resources need to be used carefully across a relatively large area), has been placed into ‘special measures’ along with the Met (London’s Metropolitan Police – described as ‘systemically racist’ after its handling of the murder of 18 year old Stephen Lawrence back […]
New laws targetting hare coursers will come into effect from August
New laws targetting hare coursers will come into effect from 1st August, timed to start with the next hare coursing ‘season’. NEW OFFENCES, NEW PENALTIES The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act brought in new laws aimed at giving police greater powers to tackle hare coursing (a wildlife crime under the Hunting Act 2004) and […]
New body to regulate fox hunts just another smokescreen?
New body set up to regulate fox hunts – just another smokescreen? On 10 June the Hunting Office made an announcement stating that a new representative body, the British Hounds Sports Association (BHSA), will be responsible for the governance of hunts and hunting. A separate regulatory body is being set up, called the Hound Sports […]
Revealed: widespread burning of peatlands despite government ban
As an avid hiker, I sometimes stumble across scorched earth in the middle of nowhere: heather moorland deliberately burnt by landowners for grouse shooting. And as an animal rights activist, I’m acutely aware of the way the shooting industry uses vast swathes of land for hunting and shooting. So new statistics about the extent of […]
Mass grave of pheasants found on Duke of Somerset’s land
Protesters on the Duke of Somerset’s land stumbled across a mass grave packed with the corpses of pheasants this May. Protect the Wild joined hundreds of activists to take part in a mass trespass close to the duke’s Berry Pomeroy castle. The action was part of the wider Right To Roam campaign for greater access […]
‘Balaclava wearing thugs”: Wiltshire PCC Philip Wilkinson doesn’t like sabs.
When Wiltshire councillor Jonathon Seed was disbarred from standing for the role of Swindon and Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), animal rights campaigners celebrated. An ex-army major and ex-fox hunt master, Seed has a long history of fox hunting, and was master of two local hunts for 20 years. But Swindon and Wiltshire’s PCC […]
Eton and beagling
Daily Mail appears to reveal all about Eton schoolboys and illegal hunting. Yesterday the Daily Mail printed a headline to a ‘news report’ that in just one deliberately-triggering sentence took in privilege, its current obsession with ‘woke’ (it takes a special sort of person, think Clarkson or Botham perhaps, to be proud of an ability […]
Police appeal for identities of terriermen seen in undercover investigation
Police appeal for identities of terriermen seen in undercover investigation Police are searching for two men connected to alleged Hunting Act offences. And they’re asking for your help to find them. BOLTING A FOX Swindon Police are searching for two men seen in Hunt Investigation Team’s exposé of the Vale of White Horse Hunt. […]
We’ve won ‘Campaigner of the Year’!
We’ve won ‘Campaigner of the Year’ in The Great Outdoors Magazine 2021 Readers’ Awards. In 2021 Protect the Wild (formerly known as Keep The Ban) was awarded a gold medal and the title of ‘Campaigner of the Year’ in The Great Outdoors Magazine 2021 Readers’ Awards. With 30 per cent of the public vote, the […]
Exposed: tax-payer funded covid grants given to hunts
Protect the Wild expose tax-payer funded covid grants given to hunts “Families across the country are suffering incredible hardship and having to make tough sacrifices due to Covid-19. Why are hard-working people now being made to subsidise hunts to the tune of £160,000?” Back in 2020 Protect the Wild sent out Freedom of Information […]