Defra call for evidence on the shooting industry
Have you witnessed the impact of bird shooting? The Government needs your evidence. The Government is examining the impacts of Britain’s bird shooting industry, and we need your help to make sure the harm being caused to wildlife is not overlooked. Every year, millions of pheasants and partridges are bred and released into the British […]
Left to Starve in a Cage: The Shooting Industry’s Sickening Treatment of Wild Magpies
Over the past few months we have been publishing analysis of undercover footage obtained on so-called ‘game farms’ across England. We began by looking at the sheer scale of the shooting industry, and how the adult birds (not every bird, but far too many) are sometimes treated. We’ve also looked briefly at how enormous numbers […]
Scotland’s Shooting Industry Wants Wildlife Killing to be UNESCO-Recognised
The shooting industry in Scotland just applied for UNESCO heritage status. Yes, UNESCO, that thing you associate with the wonders of the world, humanity’s greatest cultural and natural treasures. Not shooting, trapping and poisoning wildlife for fun. The British Association of Shooting and Conservation (BASC) Scotland has submitted both wildfowling (hunting of wild ducks, geese, […]
Undercover footage aired by ITV exposes cruelty at the heart of the bird shooting industry
Shooting. They call it “sport”. Dress it in the language of tradition, countryside stewardship, and conservation. Wrap it in tweed and tie it with the reassuring ribbon of British heritage But what Protect the Wild’s investigators found behind the gates of a British farm tells a very different story – one the shooting industry has […]
Tarras Valley, Hen Harriers, and the lies of the shooting industry
Last week yet another young Hen Harrier disappeared ‘in suspicious circumstances’ (the phrase used in official announcements which essentially means ‘we know what happened, but we can’t prove it’). ‘Red’ hatched in a nest on the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve in 2024 and ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in County Durham in January 2025. Charlie […]
Shooting industry’s voluntary plan to phase-out lead ammunition has failed
Several shooting organisations proposed a voluntary five-year plan for shooting enthusiasts to phase out the use of lead shotgun ammunition in 2020. A new study reveals that the effort has failed. The majority of shooters have not opted to phase out the use of lead shot when killing red grouse, much to the detriment of […]
Taking on the bird shooting industry: our plans
At Protect the Wild we say we want three things: to end hunting, end bird shooting, and end the badger cull. Over the last year we have pretty much focussed on hunting with dogs: mainly fox hunting, but in a series of animations and Secret Monitor posts also stag and hind hunting, and hare coursing […]
What is the shooting industry?
What is the shooting industry? ‘Industry’. noun – a group of manufacturers or businesses that produce a particular kind of goods or services. The shooting industry is the blanket term we use to describe everything from shooting estates (where most commercial shooting takes place), gamekeepers (who are responsible for the birds that estates rear to […]
Why Protect the Wild doesn’t support licencing of the shooting industry.
Staggering levels of raptor persecution (the illegal persecution of birds of prey) have been in the news again following both the release of the RSPB’s Birdcrime report for 2022 and the Scottish Parliament voting on November 30th to support the general principles of the Wildlife Management & Muirburn Bill. The Bill includes measures to introduce […]
Scotland: Shooting industry fails to bully politicians over snares
It’s welcome news that the Scottish government has announced that it will push ahead with a change in the law that would fully ban snares. As we previously reported, the shooting industry had been lobbying hard so that it could continue using the torture devices. Gamekeepers and landowners had been trying to influence legislation in […]
Shooting industry fails to criminalise Chris Packham
Hampshire Police has said that it won’t press charges against Chris Packham. The wildlife presenter’s supposed crime? Sniffing a goshawk chick on the BBC’s The One Show. Packham appeared on the programme back in August with three ringed chicks in the New Forest. He sniffed one to detect their “characteristic scent or perfume”. An individual […]
The grouse shooting industry’s ‘illusion of truth’
“141 hen harrier chicks fledge as encouraging population growth recorded” (Natural England). “Record high for Hen harrier population in England” (Moorland Association). “Another record year for hen harriers as 141 chicks fledge in England” (BASC). “Population of Hen Harrier in England experiences boom” (Hexham Courant). “Hen harrier chick numbers grow for seventh year in a […]
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 […]
Defra cosies up to grouse shooting industry
Defra (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs), the government department “responsible for improving and protecting the environment”, has announced the appointment of a grouse moor owner to what it describes as a ‘key role’. Heather Hancock (pictured above), a former Food Standards Agency chair and former Chief Executive of the Yorkshire Dales National Park […]
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 […]
World’s tiniest violin plays for shooting industry
Last week Yahoo News reposted a Daily Telegraph puff piece for the shooting industry which ran with the headline, “Gamekeepers face ruin after last-minute change to licences.” Lamenting a normally supine government for actually (finally) recognising the terrible threat of Avian Flu to wild bird populations and that protected areas ought to be – you […]
Avian Flu: RSPB calls for ban on bird releases by shooting industry
“To help limit the catastrophic spread of Avian Influenza, the RSPB is calling for an immediate moratorium on the release of captive-bred gamebirds and Mallards for shooting in the UK this year. The call is for the UK and devolved governments and the shooting industry to take a precautionary approach to limit the spread of […]
Thanks to the shooting industry, your dog’s food might cause lead posioning
A new study into lead shot has confirmed what we already know – it’s creating toxicity in foods that reach supermarket shelves. But this study shows that it has affected dog food too. On 3 May, environmental research journal Ambio published a study into the levels of lead found in commercial dog food. Headed up […]
Wales is holding a public consultation on licensing parts of the shooting industry
Natural Resources Wales (NRW) is asking the public for its thoughts on new regulation for releasing pheasants, partridges and other ‘non-native’ birds killed by the shooting industry. At present, there are regulations around the release of birds inside Wales’ sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs). However, beyond those areas, there is almost no regulatory oversight. […]
I want you to help us bring down the bird shooting industry
If you find yourself reading this, it’s likely you’re anti fox hunting. Maybe you’ve watched our ‘Trail of Lies’ animation or came across one of our undercover investigations. Or perhaps you signed one of our online petitions or donated to a crowd funder. However, what’s less likely is your position on bird shooting and whether […]
“The Shooting Industry: it’s not just hunts that kill foxes”
A fox trots through a quiet wood. Suddenly a gun blast tears the air. Pheasant alarm calls ring out. The fox runs as birds are shot out of the sky… Those are the opening few seconds of a new 90 second animation we’re about to launch. It’s produced for Protect the Wild by Ben Sinclair […]
Why must the shooting industry have a ‘predator control exit strategy’?
Why must the shooting industry have a ‘predator control exit strategy’? The definition of an ‘exit strategy’ is quite simple. It’s a pre-planned means of leaving a current situation, either after a predetermined objective has been achieved or as a strategy to mitigate failure. It’s often said that “an organisation or individual without an exit […]
Does the shooting industry spread disease?
Does the shooting industry spread disease? Wild animals get get sick, of course, but intensively reared, stressed animals are especially susceptible to disease (as an aside it’s estimated that 73% of all the antibiotics used globally are given to farmed animals, leading to serious concerns of widespread antibiotic resistance). Shooting depends on rearing as many […]
What have badgers go to do with the bird shooting industry?
What have badgers got to do with bird shooting? Badgers have been hunted, baited, mistreated, exploited, and treated appallingly by humans for centuries. Both they and their setts are now protected by the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, but since the start of the badger cull – the government-sanctioned killing of a protected species to […]
The Killing Continues: Shooting industry driving raptor persecution
The latest RSPB Birdcrime Report confirms that the shooting industry continues to drive the illegal persecution of birds of prey, listing 108 confirmed incidents across Britain in 2021. The tally of dead birds includes 50 Common Buzzards, 16 Red Kites, seven Peregrines and three Goshawks. Birdcrime is the UK’s only annual and comprehensive report of […]
Snares and the Shooting Industry
Snares and the Shooting Industry Think it’s just hunts that kill foxes? Meet the shooting industry… The estimated number of fox snares put out in England is between 62,823 and 188,283 depending on the month. Approximately 1.7 million animals are caught in snares across the UK every year. Most of these animals are killed by […]
Why do you call bird shooting an industry?
Why do we call bird shooting an ‘industry’? Why does Protect the Wild call the ‘bird shooting industry’ (a blanket term for shooting estates, shooting syndicates, shooting lobbyists, gun and ammunition manufacturers and suppliers etc) an ‘industry’ exactly? Because that’s exactly what it is – an industry. And it’s huge. We all need to move […]
End Bird Shooting Petition
Ban Bird Shooting for Sport Millions of birds are bred, released and killed for entertainment. Pheasants and partridges are intensively produced before being transported and released into the countryside for commercial shoots. Grouse moors are managed to produce large numbers of birds that can be driven towards waiting guns. During shoots, some are killed outright while others […]
How we’re going to end bird shooting
We make difficult demands on the people who support us. We ask you to watch footage that is hard to watch, to read accounts that are hard to read, and to sit with the knowledge of what is happening to birds in this country every single day. We don’t do that lightly, but we owe […]
Pinned down and terrified – Beak Guard Fitting: The Procedure The Industry Doesn’t Want You To See
Imagine you’re a bird. You’re already living in a stressed state, trapped in a cage. Nowhere to go. Suddenly, humans surround you. You’re grabbed, hung upside down, and carried off. You’re pinned down, your head is yanked forward, and something is fitted to your beak – a highly sensitive structure that contains a complex network […]
The vile industry that most of Britain has no idea about…
Two days ago we released an animation. In the time since, almost one million people have watched it. The film, narrated by Dr Amir Khan, exposes an industry most of the British public have never heard of. One where up to 50 million pheasants and partridges are bred every year from parents kept in intensive […]
Join us and END BIRD SHOOTING
HELP US END BIRD SHOOTING Every year, millions of birds are bred, released and killed for so-called ‘sport’ in Britain. It’s cruel. It’s unnecessary. And it’s time to end it. We’re building a movement to end bird shooting for good, and we need your support. Add your name and email below to join the campaign […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
End Bird Shooting
Join our new campaign to End Bird Shooting! Every year in the UK, tens of millions of pheasants and partridges are factory-farmed, released, and shot for sport. It’s one of the country’s biggest hidden animal abuse scandals — and most people have no idea it’s happening. The shooting industry thrives in silence. But we’re breaking […]
Government fails Nature again, rejecting call for grouse shooting ban
The government has rejected a call from the Wild Justice team to ban driven grouse shooting. In a parliamentary petition, the Wild Justice founders said a ban was needed because the practice is “bad for people, the environment and wildlife.” In response, the government revealed that it has “no plans” to ban driven grouse shooting, […]
Dozens of Britain’s top gardeners join pro-shooting media platform
The pro-hunting media site Scribehound recently launched a gardening ‘channel’. It lists some of the country’s most well-known gardeners among its contributors, including “the nation’s gardener,” Alan Titchmarsh, as Gardens Illustrated has described him. Scribehound is listed in Protect the Wild’s bloodbusiness database due to its overtly pro-hunting and shooting output and its founder being […]
As the pheasant shooting season begins we reflect on how normalised shooting has become
Without any of the ludicrous fanfare surrounding the ‘Inglorious 12th’ but with 100 times the number of birds involved, today sees the opening shots fired in ‘the pheasant shooting season’. In England, Scotland, and Wales the ‘season’ ends four months later on 01 February, a month earlier in Northern Ireland. In that time millions of […]
Hunting industry cries crocodile tears for its hounds
Doomsday for hunting with dogs could well be approaching. If Labour gets into power, it has pledged to strengthen the hunting ban, closing loopholes that were deliberately included in Tony Blair’s Hunting Act 2004. So it’s no surprise that the hunting industry is trying to pull at the public’s heartstrings when it cries crocodile tears […]
What is ‘pheasant shooting’?
What is ‘pheasant shooting’? Put simply, pheasant shooting is the annual slaughter of millions of birds, which are shot as live targets between October and the end of January (the so-called ‘open season’ for pheasant shooting). But just as with ‘grouse shooting’ this isn’t something that can or should be put simply. It is a […]
Industrial scale of pheasant shooting revealed
The industrial scale of rearing pheasants for the shooting industry has been uncovered by Who Owns England’s Guy Shrubsole in a series of FOI requests on the poultry registry made to APHA (the Animal and Plant Health Agency). Every year the shooting industry releases around 40 million Common Pheasants and 10 million Red-legged Partridges for […]
What is grouse shooting?
What is grouse shooting? Put simply, grouse shooting is the annual slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Red Grouse, which are shot as live targets between the now infamous 12th of August (the ‘Ingorious 12th’) and December 10th (the period which makes up the so-called ‘open season’ for shooting Red Grouse). But just as with […]
Bird shooting and the Law
Bird shooting and the Law Under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 (the primary legislation which protects animals, plants and habitats in the UK) all wild birds are protected. In the UK no-one can simply go out armed and shoot whatever birds they want to. However, certain species of game birds (a term Protect the […]
New investigation reveals widespread use of rat poison to target raptors on Northumberland shooting estate
Hunt Investigation Team (HIT) has published an investigation into malicious practices by a Northumberland shooting estate. It showed that Allendale Estates has used a “notorious” rat poison to kill not just rats but raptors and other wildlife too. As a result, the bodies of dead animals were left “strewn” next to areas of public access […]
The vile Pheasant shooting ‘season’ has started
With barely a press release or salivating media article, the pheasant shooting ‘season’ has started again in the UK. Over the next few months (until 1st of February) the countryside will echo with unwanted and upsetting reminders that birds are dying in vast numbers. It’s opened in marked contrast to the flurry of vapid puff […]
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 […]
Scottish Greens describe grouse shooting as ‘festival of violence’
The barbaric grouse shooting season began on 12 August, the ‘Inglorious 12th’. The Scottish Green Party has sent a clear message to gamekeepers and wealthy shooters that the blood sport is not welcome in Scotland. The Scottish Greens’ rural affairs minister, Ariane Burgess MSP, didn’t mince her words when she said: “There is nothing glorious […]
‘Moor’ bad news for grouse shooting in run up to Inglorious 12th
As we reported on July 22nd, United Utilities (UU), the largest corporate landowner in England, announced its decision to no longer renew grouse shooting leases on its moorland. The last of those leases will end in 2027, after which time UU (unless they bow to pressure from the shooting industry) will be out of the […]
BREAKING: United Utilities to end grouse shooting
As reported by Alex Thomson of Channel 4, “United Utilities, the largest corporate landowner in England, is pulling grouse shooting on its moorland by way of not renewing its leases when they come to an end. Its grouse shooting leases cover many high profile moorland landscapes, including the Forest of Bowland AONB, the Goyt Valley, […]
RSPB: The Economics of Driven Grouse Shooting Report
The RSPB (the “UK’s largest nature conservation charity, inspiring everyone to give nature a home and secure a healthy environment for wildlife’) recently published a report called ‘Driven Grouse Shooting – Assessing the economic and social impacts of future options for grouse moor management‘ Or did they? Curiously, this detailed and over 100-pages long report […]
Kept Animals Bill was ditched to protect the hunting industry, Defra letter suggests
The government has dropped the Kept Animals Bill, which promised to alleviate some of the worst excesses of animal cruelty. And it dropped the bill to protect its mates in the hunting industry. When the government dropped the Kept Animals Bill, it provided a cryptic reason for doing so. Mark Spencer, Defra minister, claimed on […]