• Disrupting Power Since 2015
  • Donate
  • Login
Saturday, May 17, 2025
  • Login
  • Register
Canary
MEDIA THAT DISRUPTS
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
MANAGE SUBSCRIPTION
SUPPORT
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
Canary
No Result
View All Result

MPs to debate limiting the shooting of an endangered bird for kicks

Tracy Keeling by Tracy Keeling
21 February 2023
in Analysis, UK
Reading Time: 3 mins read
166 6
A A
1
Home UK Analysis
320
SHARES
2.5k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

MPs are due to debate limiting the shooting season for an imperilled bird on 27 February. Non-profit campaign group Wild Justice started a parliamentary petition calling for the change, which surpassed the 100,000 signatures needed for a debate.

As the organisation has pointed out, even hunting groups are effectively in support of a limited season. The difference being that, unsurprisingly, they think it should be up to shooters – not regulators – to ultimately decide.

Woodcock declines

The woodcock is a wild wading bird that is in decline. The resident breeding population of the species in Britain has faced dramatic drops in recent years. Between 2003 and 2013, survey results indicated a 29% decline in breeding pairs.

As Wild Justice’s Chris Packham noted when the petition was circulating, it is a red-listed bird. This means it is a species of conservation concern.

Woodcock up & down the country can now be shot , despite being a red-listed bird in decline . We at Wild Justice want to change that .

Please sign now . If you've already signed – tag someone else who might sign or share !

— Chris Packham (@ChrisGPackham) October 12, 2022

Under current rules, Woodcock become a target for hunters from 1 October each year. Shooters gun down around 160,000 woodcocks between October and January annually, despite their declining status. Wild Justice has argued that, given the species’ demise, there is a case for halting all woodcock shooting. However, it has proposed a modest measure that would be simple and quick to implement.

It is calling for the government to restrict the shooting season for the species to two months, starting on 1 December. Migrating woodcock from elsewhere swell the UK’s numbers of the species in the winter. So limiting the season would, as Wild Justice has highlighted, lessen hunting pressure on resident populations:

It's less than a month until December 1. This is the date we want to change the opening of the Woodcock shooting season to. By halving the length of the season, it will lessen pressure on resident, breeding Woodcock. Please add your name to our petition: https://t.co/oWEpuTIWrR pic.twitter.com/bNDtY5djgs

— Wild Justice (@WildJustice_org) November 2, 2022

Previously, DEFRA (The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) has signalled that it is open to reviewing the protections from shooting for some target birds, including species like woodcock.

Wild Justice is urging people to contact their MPs ahead of the debate on 27 February to ensure that the scale of public support for the measure is understood by all relevant policymakers.

Trust shooters to show restraint?

The shooting industry has other ideas, though.

As Wild Justice has highlighted, the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) has advised shooters not to kill woodcock until late November, in areas where a resident population exists. Another pro-shooting organisation, the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), advises shooters not to kill woodcock before 1 December, in line with what Wild Justice is calling for.

But both BASC and GWCT oppose further statutory limits to killing woodcock, preferring such limitations on a voluntary basis. This is ostensibly because they say they don’t want shooters to be prohibited from killing migratory birds they come across before December.

In other words, the industry is calling for a ‘trust us’ approach from policymakers, where shooters are entrusted to discriminate between migratory and resident birds – who look the same – and show restraint by only killing the former.

A precautionary approach to protect woodcock

As the GWCT has acknowledged, studies into the impact of shooting on woodcock are non-existent at present. Moreover, the organisation itself has noted that it “cannot rule out” shooting as a contributory factor to the species’ decline.

All things considered, more precaution would be advisable. By calling for a change to the shooting season for this imperilled wading bird, Wild Justice – and the over 100,000 people who signed the parliamentary petition – are demanding such a precautionary approach from policymakers.

Featured image via Craig Nash / Flickr, cropped to 770×403, licensed under Public Domain Mark 1.0

Share128Tweet80
Previous Post

Turkey’s colonial policies exploit the earthquake disaster in Kurdistan

Next Post

Rest In Peace, Brianna Ghey: trans teen receives outpouring of love in the form of vigils and tributes

Next Post
candles are lit at a vigil in front of a photo of Brianna Ghey

Rest In Peace, Brianna Ghey: trans teen receives outpouring of love in the form of vigils and tributes

an award show host holds a BAFTA and says "and the BAFTA goes to... white people!"

And the BAFTA goes to... white people

Land clearing for fossil fuel production as part of EACOP project

Day of action against pipeline project after Tanzania greenlights construction

Kate Forbes

SNP leadership candidate Kate Forbes nosedives her own campaign by revealing she's against gay marriage

Council member Kshama Swant, who introduced the bill banning caste discrimination

Caste discrimination banned by Seattle in a 'historic' first

Please login to join discussion
Disabled people set to take to parliament en masse to oppose DWP cuts
Analysis

Disabled people set to take to parliament en masse to oppose DWP cuts

by The Canary
16 May 2025
Southern Water are threatening a journalist with defamation for asking difficult questions
Analysis

Southern Water are threatening a journalist with defamation for doing their job

by HG
16 May 2025
FIFA face human rights questions over upcoming world cups in Saudi Arabia and the US
Analysis

FIFA face human rights questions over upcoming world cups in Saudi Arabia and the US

by Maryam Jameela
16 May 2025
Plaid Cymru Commons leader just hit a nerve with this biting question to Keir Starmer
Analysis

Plaid Cymru Commons leader just hit a nerve with this biting question to Keir Starmer

by James Wright
16 May 2025
DWP failures have led to hundreds of deaths - but these are just the tip of the iceberg
Analysis

DWP failures have now led to hundreds of deaths – but these are still the tip of the iceberg

by Steve Topple
16 May 2025
  • Contact
  • About & FAQ
  • Get our Daily News Email
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy

The Canary
PO Box 71199
LONDON
SE20 9EX

Canary Media Ltd – registered in England. Company registration number 09788095.

For guest posting, contact [email protected]

For other enquiries, contact: [email protected]

The Canary is owned and run by independent journalists and volunteers, NOT offshore billionaires.

You can write for us, or support us by making a regular or one-off donation.

© Canary Media Ltd 2024, all rights reserved | Website by Monster | Hosted by Krystal | Privacy Settings

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion

© 2023 Canary - Worker's co-op.

Before you go, have you seen...?

Disabled people set to take to parliament en masse to oppose DWP cuts
Analysis
The Canary

Disabled people set to take to parliament en masse to oppose DWP cuts

Southern Water are threatening a journalist with defamation for asking difficult questions
Analysis
HG

Southern Water are threatening a journalist with defamation for doing their job

FIFA face human rights questions over upcoming world cups in Saudi Arabia and the US
Analysis
Maryam Jameela

FIFA face human rights questions over upcoming world cups in Saudi Arabia and the US

Plaid Cymru Commons leader just hit a nerve with this biting question to Keir Starmer
Analysis
James Wright

Plaid Cymru Commons leader just hit a nerve with this biting question to Keir Starmer

ADVERTISEMENT
Business
Nathan Spears

Smart Delivery Positions Mr Nang as a Leader in Australia’s Cream Charger Market

Lifestyle
Nathan Spears

Social Media Activism: How Grassroots Movements Are Gaining Power Online

Travel
Nathan Spears

Best Destinations In Spain For A Couples Holiday