“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 […]
Cage Traps and the Law
Cage Traps and the Law Cage traps are widely used by gamekeepers on shooting estates to trap and hold (then later kill by shooting or clubbing) corvids (crows, including magpies). As distressing as finding wild birds trapped in a cage trap may be, their use is (currently) legal – but only under strict conditions and […]
Gamekeepers burn moors above Sheffield
Avian Flu, declining biodiversity, and growing awareness of animal sentience, be damned. Warnings about the impacts of air pollution and microscopic smoke particulates on lung health and chronic respiratory problems, be damned. Climate change, be damned. Opportunities for local residents to enjoy the first blue skies and the first fresh air of the coming spring, […]
Deer and the Law
Deer and the Law There are six species of deer in the UK: native Red and Roe Deer; Fallow Deer (first brought to Britain during the Roman period but now considered to be naturalised), and invasive, non-native Sika, (Reeves’) Muntjac and Water Deer. Deer populations are probably higher now than ever before. They are an […]
Protectors of the Wild
Protectors of the Wild Have you ever wondered what UK law says about hunting, shooting, collecting bird eggs, or about foxes, badgers, and bats? About releasing Grey Squirrels in to the wild? About operating drones, using airguns, or driving quad bikes legally? What the Hunting Act 2004 or the CRoW Act 2000 says, or if […]
York: Fox fatally injured in illegal snare
The RSPCA is appealing for information following the discovery of a fox caught in a snare in York. And it’s a grim reminder that these “awful” devices are everywhere. A number of news reports said the young fox was discovered in a hedgerow near Rye Walk, in the north-west of the city. Following his discovery, […]
Pheasant shooting ‘season’ ends today
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 biological reasons for the choices that […]
BREAKING: Wales one step closer to ban on snare use
The Welsh Senedd just announced it is carrying forwards a plan to prohibit the use of snares. On 27 January, the Welsh Senedd’s Economic, Trade and Rural Affairs Committee published its Stage 1 Report on its upcoming Agricultural Bill. The 116-page document covers many subjects related to the future of agricultural legislation in the nation. […]
DARTMOOR: camping ban and pheasant shooting
On Saturday 21 January, Protect the Wild joined more than 3,000 people marching in protest on Dartmoor after a pheasant-shooting millionaire took action to prevent wild camping. Hedge fund manager Alexander Darwall, who owns the 4,000-acre Blachford Estate on Dartmoor, brought the case against Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA). The high court ruled in his […]
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’ […]
Changing the narrative
Changing the Narrative Changing the narrative around shooting birds The shooting industry relies on tropes it constantly uses to justify itself. We need to recognise those when we seen them and to challenge them at every opportunity. Go to ‘End Shooting’ main page ‘It’s normal to hunt‘. Killing birds for fun, for profit, for a […]
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 […]
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 […]
Why don’t you support grouse moor licencing?
Why doesn’t Protect the Wild support grouse moor licencing? The grouse shooting industry is not the ‘glorious’ tradition shooting lobbyists like to term it. 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 […]
Stink Pits
Stink Pits Anyone who comes across one of the shooting industry’s ‘hidden secrets’ will know immediately how stink pits got their name. Also known as middens, stink pits are built by gamekeepers on shooting estates and are pits or piles of dumped rotting mammal and bird carcasses which literally ‘stink’ and are used as bait […]
Why won’t you use the term ‘gamebird’?
Why won’t you use the term ‘gamebird’? Protect the Wild won’t use the term ‘gamebird’ because how we describe the living beings around us is hugely important. When it comes to our wildlife, we’ve all inherited a grubby pile of loaded, value-laden terms that have been handed down to us and that we now repeat […]
The Scottish government’s advisory group just came out strongly for a snare ban
Snares are cruel and indiscriminate, raising “significant welfare concerns”, an advisory board to the Scottish government has just announced. As a result, the board is recommending a blanket snare ban in Scotland. On 9 December, the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission (SAWC) published its position paper on using snares to trap wildlife. The evaluation was based […]
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 […]
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 […]
No ‘licencing lifeline’ for Grouse Moors
No ‘licencing lifeline’ for Grouse Moors Grouse shooting is not a ‘glorious’ tradition. It is about death and destruction: the slaughter of up to half a million grouse a year, the killing of countless native predators in traps and snares, illegal raptor persecution, and the burning of internationally-scarce habitats. All so that a few people […]
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 […]
RSPB Investigations Officer: Reflections on a poisoning
RSPB Investigations Officer: Reflections on a poisoning “Another issue that keeps rearing its head is the lack of any consequences for Stroud’s employers.” On 5 October 2022 gamekeeper Matthew Stroud was convicted of a long list of offences at Norwich Magistrates Court including killing protected birds – yet he escaped a prison sentence. Now Tom […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
Raptor Persecution Hilborough Estate
Raptor Persecution on the Hilborough Estate In April 2022, the Hunt Investigation Team (HIT) supported by Protect The Wild, documented illegal raptor persecution on the Hilborough Estate in Norfolk. The Hilborough Estate’s reputation has been built upon and protected by its royal connections and historical conservation credentials. The Van Cutsem family, friends of Princes Charles, […]
Moscar Estate files
MOSCAR ESTATE FILES On this page we will be showcasing three separate investigations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJAO1pl6MQ0 Moscar’s wildlife crime and cruelty on National Trust land In spring 2020, Moscar’s gamekeepers were investigated by the RSCPA after using a fatally wounded call bird in a Larsen trap, trapping hypothermic fox cubs and setting traps on badger setts – […]
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 […]
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 […]