Gamebird shooters will be gathering at estates across the Highlands and the north-east today to mark the Glorious Twelfth, the launch of the red grouse shooting season.
The low flying moorland birds will be finding they are fair game once again – but a wildlife campaign group says the season should not be going ahead because of bird flu concerns.
The Revive coalition for grouse moor reform says killing more birds as the avian influenza epidemic continues to devastate certain wild bird species is “wholly irresponsible and selfish”.
The Scottish Government said there are no recorded cases of bird flu in any grouse species.
Grouse numbers may be ‘looking healthy’, but avian flu is causing disaster in wild bird populations
The grouse season is worth an estimated £32m, and is part of the £350m value of game and country sports to Scotland’s economy.
And today, August 12, marks the first day of the grouse shooting season, which looks to be a more positive one for shooters than those of late.
Peter Clark, of the British Association for Shooting and Conservation in Scotland, said grouse numbers are “looking healthy” on the moors, with the caveat that there is a “mixed picture” across Scotland.
Simultaneously, Scotland’s wild birds are being severely impacted by one of the worst outbreaks of bird flu recorded.
The widespread deaths of great skuas on many of Scotland’s coasts and islands including Shetland, Orkney, the Firth of Forth and the Western Isles is leading to fears we might see major population losses.
Gannets are dying at some of their key colonies and the virus is killing great numbers of sandwich and Arctic terns, eider ducks and guillemots and many other species of wild bird including raptor species, notably Scotland’s iconic white-tailed eagle.
Bird flu has killed ‘tens, if not hundreds of thousands of birds already’
Ruth Tingay of the Revive coalition, which is comprised of Friends of the Earth Scotland, Raptor Persecution UK, Common Weal, OneKind, and League Against Cruel Sports Scotland, argues the full impact of this highly pathogenic virus on Scotland’s wild bird populations is not yet known.
Ruth says: “We do know that it has killed tens, if not hundreds of thousands of birds already and it is impacting on globally significant populations of some species in the UK.
“I’d argue that it would be wholly irresponsible, and selfish, for gamebird shoots to take place during such an epidemic”.
Kenneth Stephen of the Scottish Gamekeeper’s Association (SGA), said the association has been following all official government veterinary advice throughout the avian flu outbreak, and will continue to do so.
He said: “It’s not selfish and irresponsible, it’s following government guidance.
“If there was a problem with grouse shooting, if Defra discovered that there was an issue stemming from grouse shooting, then we would fully comply, as we have done throughout the entire avian flu outbreak.
“And it would be illegal not to.”
You can read Defra’s guidance on bird flu in wild birds here.
Concerns over partridge and pheasant shooting
The Scottish Government said that there have been “no recorded cases of avian influenza in any grouse species, and there are no restrictions in place on grouse shooting”.
However, the government said the gamebird industry throughout the whole of the UK has been “impacted by the number of avian influenza cases in France, where many partridge and pheasant chicks are sourced for the UK market”.
The statement continued: “This has resulted in the introduction of restrictions on the movement of live birds and eggs.”
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