Government to spend £400,000 to protect pheasants from buzzards
Buzzards, which are native to the UK, are being targeted by the UK Government because they eat non-native pheasant chicks
May 2012. The RSPB is stunned by Defra's plan to allow the destruction of buzzard nests and to permit buzzards to be taken into captivity to remove them from shooting estates. The Society believes this intervention against one of England's best-loved birds of prey will set a terrible precedent and prove to be a costly and unnecessary exercise.
The move by Defra followed lobbying by the pheasant shooting industry. Buzzards usually scavenge on animals which have already died, but they will sometimes take young pheasants which are released for sports shooting.
Buzzard persecution & recovery
The buzzard was eradicated from large swathes of Britain following decades of persecution. Legal protection and a general warming of attitudes towards buzzards and other birds of prey on the part of many lowland land managers, led to buzzards recovering across the UK: a fantastic conservation success story.
The buzzard was eradicated from large swathes of Britain following decades of persecution. Legal protection and a general warming of attitudes towards buzzards and other birds of prey on the part of many lowland land managers, led to buzzards recovering across the UK: a fantastic conservation success story.
Martin Harper is the RSPB's conservation director. Criticising Defra's proposal, he said: "We are shocked by Defra's plans to destroy buzzard nests and to take buzzards into captivity to protect a non-native game bird released in its millions. Buzzards play a minor role in pheasant losses, compared with other factors like collisions with vehicles."
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/buzzard-pheasant.html#cr
http://philsreport.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/government-complicit-in-overpaying.html
No comments:
Post a Comment