 Image from National Anti Snaring Campaign Snares have been in the news recently, with a successful campaign by the League Against Cruel Sports in banning them in Wales, after a 6 year long campaign. This is now being taken to Scottish parliament for consideration too, though as yet it shows no signs of consideration in England. But what are the actual effects on wildlife? And is there a place for snares in a rewilded world?
The negative impact of snares has been well-documented. Despite the arguments made for snares, they cannot be set only for ‘target’ species. The target species are generally foxes and rabbits, often victims of being in the wrong place at the wrong time - according to us. Although they may seem common, the fact is that foxes and rabbits have undergone population declines since the late 90s, 44% since 96 for foxes, and 64% for rabbits. So do we really need to be ‘controlling’ their populations this way? How will the decline, particularly in rabbits, be affecting predators that use them as a food source? Aside from the foxes and rabbits, many other species get caught. In fact, a 2012 government study showed that up to three quarters of animals caught in snares were not the target species. Animals such as mountain hares, badgers, deer and otters have all fallen victim to snares. Dogs and cats can even become caught by snares, causing serious injuries and prolonged, painful deaths. Five in 17 snare users admit to finding cats caught in their snares, even though this is illegal. Even humans have been hurt by snares, caught unaware while out running or walking. Who are these snare users? And why do they use them? According to Protect the Wild; “Snares are largely used by gamekeepers on shooting estates. Government after government has decided that shooting live animals for ‘sport’ is a legitimate practice. Shoots want to eradicate predators, so snaring has been permitted to continue when common sense and any understanding at all of wild animal sentience would tell you it should be banned.” Again, we find shooting ‘sport’, the suffering of wildlife and a negative impact on nature closely linked. Setting snares to catch mid-size predators to protect chicks destined only to be shot later, piles up bodies of collateral damage. This has a cascade effect on the ecosystem of which they are a part, unravelling natural balances. With all this in mind, the vast decline in ‘target’ species populations, the indiscriminate way all animals and even humans and pets are caught by snares, as well as the fact that 77% of the British population think that they should be banned, it’s clear that they have no place in rewilding areas and society generally. We should be protecting our native species, not killing them by setting traps that cause immense suffering and death.
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 Grouse moors cover 852,000 acres of our national parks, an area over twice the size of Greater London. Great, sweeping moors that are suffering the consequences of human exploitation. In our national parks, where nature ought to be thriving, the practices around grouse moors are contributing towards the sixth extinction event and reducing the land’s resilience in the face of the climate crisis. Wild Moors has been working tirelessly for years to raise the profile of grouse moors and their ecological state in the public consciousness, and to help a shift towards rewilding, and League Against Cruel Sports is campaigning National Parks to think about what is it they are for - hunting or nature? On a finite island, where we need land to build our houses on, grow our food, provide clean water, clean air and capture carbon, can we spare the room? First off, and one of the most important points, grouse moors do not contribute towards the food security of the UK. They are purely for bloodsports. Arguments surrounding land use are many and complex, but often one of the biggest issues surrounding rewilding is taking land out of food production. Grouse moors are not land for food production, purely for sport. 1.4% of the entire land of Britain is given over to ecologically damaging practices such as burning peat and ‘predator control’. Burning, also known as ‘swaling’, is done to burn off vegetation, allowing fresh shoots of heather to grow, which are a food source for the young grouse. However, burning dries out the peat, releases huge amounts of carbon into the air, and reduces the land’s ability to absorb water, leading to catastrophic floods and droughts. Burning also reduces plant diversity in species and in age, which is critical for providing food sources for a variety of different birds, mammals and invertebrates, and for a fully-functioning ecosystem. Alongside this, grouse moors are closely linked with raptor persecution and wildlife crimes. Intolerant of anything that may kill the grouse before humans can, our birds of prey such as hawks, kites and eagles have been poisoned and shot, and snares set which capture badgers, foxes, otters, as well as any dogs, cats and even humans that find themselves in the wrong area. We can see what a terrible effect it has on our wildlife, the climate and anyone unlucky enough to live downstream and at risk of flooding and drought. But do they bring in money to the local economy? What benefits do they bring? Unfortunately, none there either. Grouse moors are unprofitable, providing little in the way of money through tourism or regular employment, and it has been shown that turning grouse moors, our degraded uplands, over to rewilding would benefit the local economy and the public purse. There is a growing trend for grouse moor owners to either sell to rewilders or turn to rewilding themselves in an effort to recoup their losses. We can only hope that this trend continues. In our country there is a huge amount of land that could easily be rewilded, that loses nothing by returning it to nature, except depriving a few individuals their chance at ‘sport’, and provide so much more instead. It’s a clear opportunity to create a more resilient Britain as the climate crisis deepens, provide green jobs and allow nature to flourish, for all of us to enjoy. |
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September 2024
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