It is enough to make me weep in anger, frustration and sorrow. Wild Justice, who did campaign for licensing as the RSPB still does, have seen that that will never be enough and petition for a complete ban. As did 47,000 other people. Having promised change, the government now seems happy to trot out all of the old lies in this DEFRA statement:
“The Government considers that well-managed shooting activities can bring benefits to the rural economy [no it doesn’t] and can be beneficial for wildlife and habitat conservation [no it can’t and isn’t]. We will continue work to ensure a sustainable, mutually beneficial relationship between shooting and conservation [oxymoronic]. The Government has no plans to ban grouse shooting.” They are not even trying to pretend that they are not in thrall to and appeasing the same tweed-wearing, moneyed vested interests as their predecessors.
There has been the rather strange story of the four Eurasian Lynx released in Scotland, one of whom died, the others humanely captured. Not the work of irresponsible rewilders, it is thought (although I am hugely in favour of responsible reintroductions), but more likely a product of the illegal and lucrative trade in exotic wildlife as ‘pets’. They are not remotely dangerous to humans of course, but needless to say the farmers’ union NFU Scotland has “voiced concerns” about the threat to livestock. One crofter put paid to my case that they would actually be hugely beneficial in terms of deer numbers in his area by explaining that deer have already all been shot. Dear Lord.
The Daily Mail provides data from Born Free, in the form of a bar chart and an interactive map which reveals surprising statistics. It is fairly expensive (£622) but not at all difficult to obtain a license to keep pretty much any wild animal. Local councils issued 2,700 in 2023. In the Southeast of England alone there are four Bactrian Camels, 133 Wild Boar, six Lions, four leopards, a large number of snakes, primates and more. Animal sanctuaries aside, the big question for me is why anyone would wish to keep wild animals in captivity in the first place.
The image at the head of the post is taken from unsplash.com
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