As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Thursday 20 June 2013

Pheasants given more protection than buzzards by the law! Not allowed to remove nuisance pheasants

The law seems stacked in favour of shooting over wildlife protection
June 2013. Natural England recently gave permission for gamekeeper to destroy four buzzard nests to protect his ‘livestock' (which includes any animal kept for the provision or improvement of shooting). This seems to contradict a statement put out last year by Richard Benyon, the Environment Minister, when similar proposals were withdrawn after a public outcry (see box). On this occasion, Natural England stated that "The buzzard population in the locality remains particularly high and concentrated and we are confident that the local conservation status will not be adversely impacted by the destruction of this small number of nests." 

Fatal accidents caused by pheasants 
In light of this, Wildlife Extra requested permission from Natural England to remove nuisance pheasants that are released in their thousands close to roads, are known to cause damage to cars, and, according to press reports, have been responsible for at least two fatal car crashed in the last few years. (In 2008 a motor cyclist was killed near Lancaster when he hit a pheasant (click here) and in 2012, a pheasant caused a fatal car crash near Hull (click here).)

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