Glut of pheasants caused by lockdown shooting ban could threaten songbirds, warn conservationists

A glut of pheasants caused by the lockdown shooting ban could impact songbird populations, the RSPB has warned. Countryside organisations have spoken out after the government ruled that hunting and most shooting is unable to continue over the lockdown period. This is because people cannot meet in groups of more than two, or stay overnight to take part in recreational activity, meaning most shoots will be unviable. Tim Bonner, the Chief Executive of the Countryside Alliance, said that woods will be full of the birds as they are unable to be shot. He said there would be "woods full of pheasants released and acclimatised to the wild which will have to be fed and protected until December while every shoot day has to be cancelled. The pinnacle of a year’s work brought to a sudden and complete halt. Their colleagues in Wales and Scotland have been wrestling with their own lockdowns and restrictions, but this is the most serious blow to the countryside since we were released from the first lockdown in the summer." The countryside campaigner added that the lockdown would be a "huntsman’s or gamekeeper’s worst nightmare" because of the kennels full of dogs and woods full of unshot birds. A Natural England commissioned review found that large, dense populations of pheasants can compete with songbirds for food, including seeds and insects. An RSPB spokesperson confirmed to the Telegraph that it is likely heightened pressure will be put on native bird populations because shooters will be unable to reduce the pheasant populations. Martin Harper, director for conservation at the RSPB said: “Every year around 60 million non-native pheasants and red-legged partridges are released into our countryside. This is twice the biomass of all UK’s native breeding birds. “Last month, Defra acknowledged in their response to the legal challenge on releasing gamebirds on protected sites, the release of this huge quantity of gamebirds can have direct and indirect impacts on our environment. What’s more, the number released has been increasing." He recommended the shooting industry spends lockdown improving the environment for Britain's birds, adding: “Sadly, because this is an unregulated activity we do not have a baseline against which we can compare the impact of the forced end to this year’s shooting season. That said, a pause buys time for both the shooting industry to massively improve environmental standards and for governments across the UK to get a better understanding of the impact that gamebird shooting is having on our countryside and end environmentally unsustainable forms of shooting.” Last week, the government confirmed it would be putting in place a licensing system for pheasant releases close to Special Protected Areas, in order to mitigate the environmental damage reports have shown they cause in large numbers. This was in response to a judicial review brought by BBC presenter Chris Packham's wildlife campaign group, and it is likely to affect around a quarter of shoots.

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