The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

Well, putting aside the facts or otherwise of the article, which I haven't read but noticed it was reported in Saturday's Times by Simon Barnes, I'm bound to say that if DEFRA don't apply the "Daily Mirror" test to their policies and press announcements, they deserve all the flak that comes up to meet them. Silly things.
So, if there's any truth at all, we have DEFRA,
... guardian of the driven pheasant,
... enemy of the buzzard,
... advocate of the misplaced re-introduction of the Sea Eagle,
... advocate of the protector of the sparrowhawk but not of the sparrow,
... enemy of the badger but not of the rat,
... friend of the agrochemical but not of the song bird population

DEFRA: all slopey shoulders and inconsistent policy formulation. Just about the craziest place I ever worked. These people forget who pays their wages.

DEFRA Project specification, interesting to see they list it as an 'experiment'

http://www.birdwatch.co.uk/channel/news ... te=__12163

Downloadable protest letter.

DEFRA has a resposibility to all rural stakeholders, and as such is not the best 'champion' of wildlife and biodiversity protection. Also, and I hate to say it; the big estates, even the ones that breed pheasants, manage the rest of their land exceptionaly well - I know the one in the article, and go fishing at another which is nearly as big...the fact is, that the richness of biodiversity is far better on these estates than the vast majority of public owned land down here in Dorset.

That said, while buzzards are by no means 'endangered' in Dorset, I still don't think it's for humans to pick and choose between species just for their own twisted kicks - at the end of day, they don't want the buzzards to kill the pheasants for food, because they want to shoot them for fun and profit!

And before anyone gives the argument that the dead pheasants are all eaten or sold on to resturants and butchers....for me it's no different than a sheep farmer deciding not to bother with using an abatoir, and letting people come and pay to shoot his sheep for fun instead...

christel wrote:http://www.birdwatch.co.uk/channel/news ... te=__12163

Downloadable protest letter.

:goodjob:

I'll get one sent. And I'll post the link on my uni forum.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildli ... -turn.html

Changed their minds

Dougan wrote:DEFRA has a resposibility to all rural stakeholders, and as such is not the best 'champion' of wildlife and biodiversity protection. Also, and I hate to say it; the big estates, even the ones that breed pheasants, manage the rest of their land exceptionaly well - I know the one in the article, and go fishing at another which is nearly as big...the fact is, that the richness of biodiversity is far better on these estates than the vast majority of public owned land down here in Dorset.

That said, while buzzards are by no means 'endangered' in Dorset, I still don't think it's for humans to pick and choose between species just for their own twisted kicks - at the end of day, they don't want the buzzards to kill the pheasants for food, because they want to shoot them for fun and profit!

And before anyone gives the argument that the dead pheasants are all eaten or sold on to resturants and butchers....for me it's no different than a sheep farmer deciding not to bother with using an abatoir, and letting people come and pay to shoot his sheep for fun instead...

you can pay to shoot sheep, sounds great fun ! do they use beaters to drive them or the ready trained dogs? i wonder if my spangel could retrieve one? how much do you think a 150 sheep day would cost?

christel wrote:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildli ... -turn.html

Changed their minds

That didn't take long ...and I don't know why the article keeps harping on about 'an embarrassing u-turn'...sounds like a good quick decision...

I read in 'i' yesterday that about 40 million pheasants are released each year; of which only 15 million are shot - the rest either end up dead on the road, or turn wild....and they wonder why there's an increase in buzzards! - Then the pheasant breeders want public money to prevent their loss in profits...the level of hypocracy and arrogance is stunning!

There are many protected bird species that cause both financial & environmental problems & the unintended consequences of their protection can be devastating.
The explosion in the populations of cormorants, mergansers & goosanders are having a severe effect on both coarse fish & salmonids, with a knock-on reduction on freshwater mussels, water voles & other riverine fauna.
Someone else mentioned red kites, whose population in certain areas has grown to the point where their preferred prey species are being decimated.
It's up to humanity to ensure the best balance possible & blanket protection of one species to the detriment of others is certainly not the right way to go about it.

Oddbod wrote:There are many protected bird species that cause both financial & environmental problems & the unintended consequences of their protection can be devastating.
The explosion in the populations of cormorants, mergansers & goosanders are having a severe effect on both coarse fish & salmonids, with a knock-on reduction on freshwater mussels, water voles & other riverine fauna.
Someone else mentioned red kites, whose population in certain areas has grown to the point where their preferred prey species are being decimated.
It's up to humanity to ensure the best balance possible & blanket protection of one species to the detriment of others is certainly not the right way to go about it.

What is important is that man made environments are managed. The rest I believe should be left to be nature, in other words "survival of the fittest".
So fenced in wood areas populated by deer need to be culled. The buzzard population, leave it.