Predator control is almost always an emotive topic. The killing of any animal tends to trigger at the least discussions, if not arguments. Humans making the decision to prioritise one animal over another is viewed, in certain circles, as being unnatural and incorrect. Who are we to choose the hedgehog over the badger, the fox over the curlew or even the white-tailed eagle over the hen harrier? Live and let live is the motto; unless, of course, it’s part of a rewilding project, in which case the wolves can predate on the deer and the pine marten on the dormice.
This is how we have ended up in a situation where the likes of the RSPB try to hide the fact that they practice predator control. Where each ground-nesting birds’ nest is protected by a ring of electric fencing, in the hope this will stop them being eaten.
But perhaps things are starting to change. We all know that the RSPB do practice predator control (very expensively); just look at their £16m plan to eradicate stoats in Orkney, or their use of contractors for fox shooting and Larsen traps. The difference is that while many people try to be open about explaining why predator control is needed and how it helps rare and vulnerable species, the RSPB aren’t. They would rather hide from their members the fact that they carry out predator control – perhaps running scared from the reaction it would provoke, and the damage it might do to their purse. No wonder when a stoat control project costs £16million!
Mary Colwell is the founder of Curlew Action, the chair of the Curlew Recovery Partnership and author of a book called Curlew Moon. Needless to say, she knows abit about curlew. Another of her books, Beak, Tooth and Claw, examines the predators of the UK and the human relationship with them. But she accepts that predator control is the major cause of decline of curlews and lapwings, along with other ground-nesting birds. “It’s controversial, but it’s vital”, she says.
Another recent study, from Denmark, looked at the number of Piped Avocet breeding pairs with chicks in a protected wetland area named Tipperne. From 2018, intensive fox and racoon dog control was carried out. The numbers speak for themselves, as you can see above.
So why do some people, and organisations, still refuse to accept that carrying out legal predator control is the only realistic way of saving many of our red and amber-listed species from threat and eventual extinction? In many parts of the UK we are already seeing localised extinctions of species such as curlew, lapwing and grey partidge – as well as mammals like the red squirrel or hedgehog – where once they thrived. Without a sensible approach to reducing predation pressure, these species will be gone – perhaps forever.
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