Chris Packham is joining the fight against wildlife crime. He has launched a new non-profit company, called Wild Justice, dedicated to bringing wildlife criminals to justice.
However, instead of joining the fieldsports community at the forefront of the fight against wildlife crime, he has made it clear that he considers hunters and shooters to be the criminals. At the launch of Wild Justice on BBC’s Farming Today radio programme, Packham said he counts everyone in the fieldsports community as a wildlife criminal. Listen to the clip here:
Upland gamekeepers are fighting back against victimisation by media personalities such as Packham. Faced with attacks by animal rights activists from the new SCOTLink group of organisations, grouse moors are posting videos of raptors on grousemoors under the hashtag #wehavewildlife, in order to counter the antis’ argument that grousemoors don’t.
This video is from the Lammermuirs Moorland Group.
At this time of year, keepers are catching up grouse to test them for Strongyle worm, as this video from the Angus Glens Moorland Group shows.
Meanwhile, antis remain unable to agree on how to carry out conservation. An anti from Ramblers Scotland posted pictures of vermin traps on Cairngorms moors, calling for a ban, just as fellow SCOTLink member RSPB Scotland along with Scottish Natural Heritage got underway with their £6 million grant to set 16,000 stoat traps on Orkney.
Here’s a selection of the 27 traps I counted yesterday on a 3-mile walk in the #Cairngorms national park. Not illegal, but what message does this send about the way we manage land in Scotland? @CNPnature @ReviveCoalition pic.twitter.com/UrYgGXoSLA
— Helen Todd (@HelenRambler) 10 February 2019
