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NE doing their bit.... |
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Wolfgang Wuster
Senior Member Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 374 |
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Posted: 24 May 2013 at 7:30pm |
Wolfgang Wüster
School of Biological Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor http://pages.bangor.ac.uk/~bss166/ |
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GemmaJF
Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 Location: Essex Status: Offline Points: 4359 |
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Excellent work there by NE, as usual...
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will
Senior Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1830 |
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...because 35 million pheasants is never enough...
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Suzy
Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2005 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1447 |
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I thought the RSPB came down in favour of keepered estates being best for birds a few years ago.
Killing rarer gulls and buzzards doesn't seem right, although are buzzards endangered now? I know it's an argument often trotted out, but if estates can't be self supporting/make an income then what will happen? Pheasant shoots and grouse shoots provide incomes and employment and help preserve a landscape and countryside that a lot of us recognise and love to tramp over. Heather moors are great for adders, how would it be if that all went because of lack of management for grouse/introduction of lots of grazing animals? |
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Suz
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will
Senior Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1830 |
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I think it's got to be a question of balance, Suzy; 35 million pheasants is just too much - approximately one buzzard per thousand pheasants, I think. I know several sites where pheasants have eliminated the adders and decimated the grass snakes and slowworms. If the only reason why scrub and open woodland are maintained in the UK is to allow a tiny minority to shoot a single non-native invasive species, then there's something very wrong with our nature conservation priorities, I reckon...
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Wolfgang Wuster
Senior Member Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 374 |
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And let's not forget the fact that buzzards are a fairly minor source of mortality for pheasants anyway....
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Wolfgang Wüster
School of Biological Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor http://pages.bangor.ac.uk/~bss166/ |
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