National Trust: failure to enforce ban emboldening hunts
The National Trust (NT) banned so-called trail hunting back in October 2021, after a hard-fought battle by members and campaigners who took a motion to the Trust’s AGM in Harrogate. But more than three years later hunts continue to trespass on its estates. Protect the Wild takes a look at the charity’s inaction as wildlife […]
Restore Trust and Countryside Alliance aim to take control of National Trust Board
Lobby groups ‘Restore Trust’ and the Countryside Alliance (CA) have seemingly joined forces to once again try to take over the Board of Trustees of the National Trust. Emails are being sent out listing five people the lobbyists would like members to vote for: Philip Gibbs, Andrew Gimson, Violet Manners, Philip Merricks, and Jonathon Sumption. […]
National Trust bans grouse shooting from a Peak District estate
The National Trust has announced it’s banning grouse shooting from 1,600 acres of its land in the Peak District. And it comes after the charity voiced concerns over the shooting industry’s “management techniques”. On 3 March, Sheffield paper The Star reported that the National Trust had chosen not to renew its relationship with the shooting […]
Hunt master fined after hunting fox on National Trust land
Hunt master fined £600 after failing to call dogs away while illegally fox hunting on National Trust land South Shropshire Hunt master Daniel Cherriman, aged 37, was filmed in November 2021 trespassing and illegally fox hunting on National Trust land in the Long Mynd area of Church Stretton when the hounds he was in charge […]
‘SMOKESCREEN SATURDAY’: the sham that is ‘national trail hunting day’
The hunting industry’s Big Day is approaching: the moment when it desperately tries to convince the Labour government that it isn’t breaking the law – despite 20 years of evidence showing otherwise. The National Trail Hunting Day – dubbed ‘Smokescreen Saturday’ by hunt saboteurs and monitors – will take place on 14 September. The British […]
FOIs reveal Badger cull approved in National Nature Reserves
UK authorities have permitted badger control operations to take place in England’s nature havens, according to new revelations. Freedom of Information requests involving Natural England, the Forestry Commission, and Forestry England, show that badger control activities, including culling in some instances, have been permitted in various nationally important nature areas since at least 2016. A […]
SHOCKING: Renowned Rewilding Knepp Estate hosts notorious hunt
The Knepp Wildland Estate describes itself as “a leading light in the conservation movement”, as “trailblazing”, and “rewilding pioneers”. Run by estate owner Charlie Burrell and his wife Isabella Tree, Knepp’s 3,500-acre rewilding project is impressive, with many declining species like Turtle Dove, White Admiral, and Nightingale all now thriving. A sighting in Cornwall this […]
CHARLES CARTER: Police issue notorious hunter second Community Resolution Order
Wiltshire Police has issued Charles Carter, huntsman for the Royal Artillery Hunt (RAH), with a Community Resolution Order (CRO). The CRO is his second in 18 months, and was given to him after he assaulted a female hunt saboteur. The incident took place in February 2024. Salisbury Plain Hunt Saboteurs gave a detailed account of […]
GOOD NEWS: Celebration as Eryri Hunt folds
On 15 July, pro-hunting organisation Hunting Kind announced that Wales’ Eryri Hunt is disbanding. The Eryri hunted on foot in Eryri (Snowdonia), northwest Wales. In response to the news, Cheshire Borderland Monitors celebrated, saying: “ANOTHER ONE GONE! Cheshire Borderland Monitors are particularly pleased about the Eryri hunt disbanding, because in the past we have spent […]
Good news! Another hunt folds just days after Labour takes power
Fantastic news is coming in before the 2024/25 hunting ‘season’ even starts: the Monmouthshire and Valley Beagles (M&VB), which used to hunt hares, has disbanded. The M&VB itself was formed from the amalgamation of two separate beagle packs in 2015, the Merthyr Tydfil-based Valley Beagles and the Monmouthshire Beagles. The hunt chased and killed Brown […]
New Defence Secretary must ban hunting on MOD land
John Healey is Labour’s new Secretary of State for Defence. Healey is anti-hunting, so Protect the Wild has high hopes that he will take urgent action to ban hunting on Ministry of Defence (MOD) land. Join us in our campaign to make this happen. Most major landowners, such as the National Trust, have already banned […]
BHSA and hunting’s desperate bid to save itself
The British Hound Sports Association (BHSA), hunt’s so-called ‘governing’ body, has released details of its “Autumn Campaign” in the run up to the next General Election. The campaign focuses on proving to the world – and particularly Labour candidates – that ‘trail hunting’ is legal. As people who care deeply about wildlife, we should pay […]
The Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill
Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act The Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill was passed into law in March 2024. The Act was introduced primarily to address raptor persecution and ensure that the management of grouse moors and related activities “are undertaken in an environmentally sustainable and welfare conscious manner”. The Bill implements the recommendations […]
Post-Brexit government fails to protect nesting birds, rivers and hedgerows
As 2023 came to an end, rules that protected rivers and hedgerows expired. Now major charities are calling on the government to give basic protection to nature on farms. Until 31 December 2023, farmers were obliged to follow regulations, known as cross compliance, if they wanted to receive rural payments from the government. The cross […]
Another Red Kite poisoned with bendiocarb
Police in Norfolk are appealing for information after tests revealed a Red Kite discovered dead in North Creake had died from suspected insecticide poisoning. Officers from Norfolk Police’s Operation Randall team have been investigating the death of the protected bird of prey, which was found by a member of the public in a field in […]
Ten reasons why 2023 was a good year for wildlife
For those of us who love wildlife, it is easy to fall into despair when we read reports of foxes being killed and birds of prey being poisoned. Many of us will need a reminder that positive events happened in 2023! As the year comes to a close, we give ten reasons why this was […]
CAUGHT ON FILM: One man’s words show the criminality of hunts
On 7 December, Hull Wildlife Protectors (HWP) posted a video on Instagram. And in just a few words, one man showed just how criminal fox hunters really are. The footage was taken on 21 November. HWP had been monitoring East Yorkshire’s Holderness Hunt when they filmed some of the hunt in conversation on camera. One […]
Plants and the Law
Plants and the Law A wild plant is an uncultivated plant that grows as nature intended it to in the wild in England and Wales. Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 the term ‘plant’ includes algae, lichens and fungi, mosses, liverworts and vascular plants. All wild plants in England and Wales are offered some […]
The Secret Monitor: Partners in crime – who’s enabling the cruelty of stag hunting?
Damaging stories from inside hunting, shooting, and the badger cull have been circulating for years. Everything from breaking the law to assaults or harassment of monitors and the public and a police force seemingly happy to ‘look the other way’. But there is always someone watching, always someone listening. The Secret Monitor. In the sixth […]
Hunter on quad bike mows down man, breaking his leg
Shocking footage shows the moment a man was mowed down by a South Shropshire Hunt (SSH) terrierman on a quad bike. The incident took place on the Real Milk Company’s private land on 25 November. The company tweeted a video of the incident, and said: “First you goad them…..then you evidence them. SSH trespassing yet […]
The Secret Monitor: Curre and Llangibby Hunt and their sweary supporters
Damaging stories from inside hunting, shooting, and the badger cull have been circulating for years. Everything from breaking the law to assaults or harassment of monitors and the public and a police force seemingly happy to ‘look the other way’. But there is always someone watching, always someone listening. The Secret Monitor. In this post […]
DEER HUNTING: Has the British Deer Society landed a death blow?
Quietly, and without any fanfare, the British Deer Society (BDS), a charity ‘dedicated to building a strong future for wild deer in the UK’, has (belatedly, it could be strongly argued) published a Position Statement on Hunting Deer with Hounds. In it the BDS states, “The BDS is unable to justify the deliberate pursuit of […]
The Secret Monitor: Stag hunting not cruel enough? There’s always hind hunting…
[PLEASE NOTE we have included a short video clip in this post. It shows a running deer and hounds but it is NOT graphic and the hind is not caught. It is used solely as an example of the Quantock Stag Hounds breaking the Hunting Act 2004 by using more than two dogs to chase […]
This is the solution to end stag hunting forever
Stag hunting is possibly the UK’s most gruesome blood sport. When the Hunting Act came into force in 2005, stag hunters evaded the ban by using different loopholes in the law to their fox hunting friends. Protect the Wild argues that in order to end stag hunting once and for all, we need a complete […]
The Secret Monitor. Want to trespass with a firearm on public land? Join a stag hunt…
Damaging stories from inside hunting, shooting, and the badger cull have been circulating for years, and there are always new ones waiting to be told. There is always someone watching, always someone listening. The Secret Monitor. In the third post of an occasional series, the Secret Monitor is in the west of England. Stag hunting […]
The Secret Monitor: the depraved ‘supporters’ of the Quantock Stag Hounds
Damaging stories from inside hunting, shooting, and the badger cull have been circulating for years, and there are always new ones waiting to be told. There is always someone watching, always someone listening. The Secret Monitor. In the second post of an occasional series, the Secret Monitor is in the west of England. Stag hunting […]
Stag killers no longer welcome in this Somerset pub
Pub company Greene King has stated that the Anchor Inn in Exebridge will no longer host the Quantock Staghounds. This stand against hunting is a blow to the murderous industry. Huntpubs, a campaign that exposes the pubs and venues supporting illegal hunting, published an email on X (formerly Twitter). It had previously asked the public […]
Heythrop Hunt hounds tear up a fox in front of hunt saboteurs
Three Counties Hunt Saboteurs caught the Heythrop Hunt tearing up a fox cub on 23 September. Gloucestershire Police says it is investigating, but it remains to be seen whether the force will take action. The Heythrop’s current huntsman is criminal hunter Chris Woodward. The sabs recalled the events of the day in their report on […]
The Secret Monitor: Dishing the dirt on stag hunting
Damaging stories from inside hunting, shooting, and the badger cull have been circulating for years. Everything from breaking the law to assaults or harassment of monitors and the public and a police force seemingly happy to ‘look the other way’. But there is always someone watching, always someone listening. The Secret Monitor. In the first […]
Stop the Mendip Farmers Hunt from parading this Boxing Day
Murdering foxes. Killing its own hounds. Blocking badger setts. Brutal attacks on hunt saboteurs. Traumatising domestic animals. Stealing monitors’ equipment. This is the criminal Mendip Farmers Hunt (MFH). Protect the Wild and Action Against Foxhunting are contacting councils in England and Wales to ask them to ban hunts from parading on their land on Boxing […]
Mid Devon District Council should ban the Tiverton Hunt from parading this Boxing Day
The Christmas season is approaching surprisingly quickly, and hunts across the country are preparing for what is supposedly their most prestigious meets of the year: Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Protect the Wild and Action Against Foxhunting are urging Mid Devon District Council to ban the Tiverton Hunt from parading through Tiverton town centre. […]
Grant Shapps is anti-hunting. Will he do the right thing and ban fox hunting on MoD land?
On 31 August, Grant Shapps was appointed as the new defence secretary. Protect the Wild is urging Shapps to use his power to ban hunting on Ministry of Defence (MoD) land. A number of major landowners, such as the National Trust, have already banned hunting from taking place on their land. They have acknowledged that […]
We created a map of North Yorkshire showing what effect a council ban on hunting could have
A core committee of North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) will discuss a motion to ban hunting from council-owned land on 11 September. We’ve created a map to show how a ban might affect hunting in the county. Labour councillor Rich Maw originally proposed the motion for debate in July. However, the council failed to debate […]
Scottish Water looks set to ban grouse shooting on their land
The gory blood sport of grouse shooting is well underway in the UK. The rich are whipping out their rifles in delight, eager to murder defenceless birds. But it’s one blow after another for grouse shooters in Scotland, as Scottish Water has stated that it will issue no new leases on its estate. The company […]
THREE more Hen Harriers ‘disappear’ on grouse moors
The RSPB has posted a press release today which describes how THREE more Hen Harriers (one of the UK’s most persecuted birds of prey) have ‘vanished’ on grouse moors in northern England. All three of them have been killed within days of the ‘Inglorious 12th’, the start of the 121-day blood-soaked season the industry uses […]
Reclaim Our Moors Walk 2023 (Moscar Moor)
On August 13th, the day after the Inglorious 12th (and a Sunday so no shooting was taking place), I joined a group of ‘Reclaim Our Moors’ protestors on a short hike from Redmires Reservoir near Sheffield up onto the notorious Moscar Moor. A grouse shooting estate, Moscar has become a national symbol of the public […]
MoD silent despite 23000 emails urging hunting ban
Fox hunting has suffered a number of major blows over the past few years. Major landowners such as the National Trust have banned hunting from taking place on their land. But one of the UK’s biggest landowners, the Ministry of Defence (MoD), is still refusing to ban the disgusting blood sport. Protect the Wild wants […]
GUILTY: Huntsman Chris Woodward in court yet again
Chris Woodward, ex-huntsman for the Wynnstay Hunt, has pleaded guilty to interfering with a badger sett near Malpas, north Wales. The guilty plea comes after the Hunt Saboteurs Association (HSA) released footage back in February 2023, showing two men escaping on a quad bike after they were confronted by sabs. The men were named as […]
OPINION: The grouse shooting industry must be shut down
Over the last two days we’ve laid out some of the less than ‘glorious’ facts about the grouse shooting industry. In our first post, ‘There’s nothing ‘glorious’ about killing grouse‘, we outlined how the 12th of August (the ‘Inglorious 12th’) marks the start of a key ‘season’ for the shooting industry, and that over the […]
Heads-up shooting industry: Avian Flu is still killing wild birds
Just last week we posted an article (‘World’s tiniest violin plays for shooting industry‘) about a puff piece for the shooting industry published by the Daily Telegraph. In our post we pointed out that shooting lobbyists were arguing that the massive releases of non-native birds to be shot should be allowed to go ahead partly […]
White-tailed Eagles poisoned in Northern Ireland
A reward of £5,000 has been offered for information following the poisoning of two White-tailed Eagles in Co Antrim. The birds were found on Glenwherry Hillfarm on May 15th and a post-mortem examination revealed both birds had ingested the insecticide bendiocarb. Conservationists monitoring one of the birds, which was fitted with a satellite tag, became […]
Wynnstay huntsman pleads guilty of threatening behaviour
Wynnstay huntsman Chris Woodward has pleaded guilty to causing intentional harassment, alarm or distress, an offence under the Public Order Act. The hunter rode his horse at a Cheshire Monitors volunteer during a fox hunting meet on 7 January 2023. Woodward galloped towards the monitor on his horse, almost knocking the man to the ground. […]
Melbreak Huntsman Christopher Nixon convicted of assault (Part One)
On the 12th of June, Christopher Nixon, the Melbreak Hunt’s huntmaster, was convicted of the common assault of Darren Ward, and fined a total of £945. The assault by Nixon, who was challenged while walking with seven dogs on land owned by Mr Ward, was recorded on a phone and used as evidence in court. […]
The Heather and Grass etc. Burning (England) Regulations 2021
The Heather and Grass etc. Burning (England) Regulations 2021 Burning of moorland in England is covered by the (voluntary) Heather and Grass Burning Code 2007 (Defra, 2007), the Heather and Grass Burning Regulations 2007 (Defra, 2007) and the Heather & Grass Burning Regulations (England) 2021 (Defra, 2021). Under the Heather & Grass Burning Regulations (England) […]
MoD respond to petition calling for end of hunting licences
Protect the Wild recently launched a campaign to ban so-called ‘trail hunting’ on Ministry of Defence (MoD) land, part of our wider determination to end hunting with dogs permanently and achieve a Proper Ban on Hunting. While most major landowners have seen through the ‘smokescreen’ of ‘trail hunting’, the MoD is still issuing licences that […]
Harrowing photos show why you shouldn’t have a BBQ or make a fire on moorland
Photos of recent wildfires on Marsden Moor are a stark reminder that we need to treat our precious moorland with care. Marsden Moor is in the southern Pennines, and is owned by the National Trust. It is a site of specific scientific interest (SSSI), due to its blanket bog habitat, as well as its breeding […]
Hunt sabs publish ‘unique’ footage of stag hunted to exhaustion
Hunt saboteurs published footage of a stag that was so exhausted he laid down and allowed a human to sit next to him. The Quantock Staghounds had hunted the stag for several hours through the day. And this “unique” footage reveals the brutality of stag and deer hunting. On 17 April, North Dorset Hunt Saboteurs […]
Why not strengthen the Hunting Act?
Why not strengthen the Hunting Act? A new Bill? Why not strengthen the Hunting Act instead? We need a proper ban on hunting, which is why we commissioned Advocates for Animals to help us campaign for a new law – The Hunting of Mammals Bill. But why not work to strengthen the existing legislation? Protect […]
CAMPAIGN: End Hunting on MoD land
Yesterday Protect the Wild launched a new petition-based campaign and a new animation: End Hunting on MoD (Ministry of Defence) Land. Within two hours our social media posts had been viewed almost 50k times, and by midday this morning over 5000 people had already signed our petition to the MoD calling on them to stop […]
Ministry of Defence Police issue warning to Royal Artillery Hunt after deer chase
Ministry of Defence Police issued an official warning to two members of Royal Artillery Hunt. It comes after monitors captured footage of hounds chasing deer across Salisbury Plain. However, the video also raises questions about why stronger action wasn’t taken. Ministry of Defence (MOD) Police issued an official warning to Charles Carter, huntsman for the […]
WILTSHIRE: Protest at appointment of hunt supporting Rural Crime Team Officer
As has been widely reported (including by Protect the Wild), a peaceful protest was planned for today outside Wiltshire Police HQ in Devizes. Sabs and campaigners are furious that Wiltshire Police have recently announced Cheryl Knight as its new recruit to their Rural Crime team. Hunt saboteurs have highlighted Knight’s links to both the Beaufort […]
Essex Police serves hunt with Community Protection Warning
Anti-hunting campaigners and hunt saboteurs scored another victory on 3 March when the Essex with Farmers and Union Hunt was issued with a Community Protection Warning (CPW). Essex Police tweeted: “RET [Rural Engagement Team] have issued a Community Protection Warning to a hunt that operates in Essex. Following reports of trespassing and other issues affecting […]
