Block DFRA's proposal to Inprison and / or kill our native buzzards.
- by: Annabella Laws
- recipient: The Goverment and DEFRA
Defra plan to affectively cull and/or imprison the UKs buzzard population.The move by Defra is a result of lobbying by the pheasant shooting industry. Buzzards usually scavenge on animals which have already died, or keep Rabbit and small rodent populations in check, they are known to sometimes take young pheasants which are released for "sports" shooting. They will go for the easy meal ticket.
Last time this sort of thing was aloud the Buzzard was eradicated from large parts of the UK following decades of persecution. Thankfully legal protection and a general warming of attitudes towards buzzards and other birds of prey on the part of many land managers, and the public led to buzzards recovering across the UK. This was a fantastic conservation success story Thanks to success by the RSPB and others groups involved in the recovery of the birds.
Unfortunately the Pheasant is another story as aside from the shooting season Pheasants are seen as pests the rest of the year around, and are known for decimating crops. Pheasants are not even native the UK. They are originally from India, just like Canada goose is from Canada/USA and the peacock from India!!
The Gray squirrel is culled for having been shipped over from the USA for being a pest to trees, and a Killer of Red Squirrels with its pox virus. but its native predictors are left alone to aid in keeping it in check.
In comparison the Pheasant is left to roam rampant, destroying crops and food souses to birds that are in decline as a direct results of the introduction of this bird, who were brought to the UK bred on mass to be let out of pens in very high densities just to be shot in October - December where a number of the birds will escape get into the wild and continue to breed into the previous survivors and descendent of past survivors of shoots. Where the birds continue to be seen as pests.
Why then have the sites been set on Buzzards? who do very little damage, are native to the UK, are only known to sometimes take a young shoot birds.
DEFRA seem to have ignored all independent Data presented to involving this issue and gone in favour of the non native bird who's only reason for being in the UK is to be shot for "sport". and wasted Tax payer money in the process.
We call for this Plan by DEFRA to be Blocked / Banned / scrapped and just flat out not aloud It will aether be like swatting wasps from a fizzy drink or will see us back having to fight for the survival of a bird that has once again been persecuted so a few people can enjoy shooting a non-native bird.
Have a Read of the following links from the RSPB for more up-to-date and accurate information:
here: http://tiny.cc/89zsew
here:Martin Harper's blog
here: http://tiny.cc/bb0sew
(Disclaimer on behalf of RSPB, The RSPB are Not responsible for this Petition. I bare this responsibility as a member of the public.)
Dear MP / Officials of DEFRA
We Ask that you scrap the plan to allow the UK's Native Buzzards to be captured or killed to protect Non-native Game birds.
The Buzzard has only in recent years recovered from high levels of percussion, and for the interests of Biodiversity we ask that they continue to be protected from persecution.
An independent report for the British Association for Shooting and
Conservation (BASC) found that on average only 1 to 2% of young pheasants
were taken by birds of prey. with larger numbers being killed from other causes, such as disease or being run hit on the road which
accounts for approximately 3 million pheasants a year.
Many estimates suggest that pheasants are released at a rate of 40 million non-native
gamebirds into the countryside, often at very high
densities. Many of these will escape shoots and go on to be come "pests" to crops and other native birds who feed on the same diet as the Pheasant.
We ask you to reconsider this plan and put it where it belongs, In the bin, as its just a waste of tax payer money that could be better spent else where, and a continued genocide on our native wildlife in favor of a few people who like to shoot non-native game birds. So again we ask that you block/ban/scrap this plan.
Yours Faithfully
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