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12/08/2005
Grouse hunting season could be ‘worst for decades’
Country sports groups are preparing for what they claim could be the worst grouse shooting season in decades.
Friday is the ‘Glorious Twelfth’, the traditional start of the grouse-shooting season in the UK, with thousands of people taking part in shoots across the country.
However, many shoots have been reduced or cancelled completely, due to bad weather and outbreaks of tick infestations and parasitic worms, which have seriously reduced bird stocks.
The Moorland Association reported that bird stocks had been reduced by between 50% - 90%, compared to last season’s figures.
In Scotland, cold and wet weather in May and June has been blamed for poor grouse numbers, while the warmer winter weather is believed to be to blame for high number of tick infestations in grouse this season.
The worst hit areas in Scotland are South Deeside and West Perthshire. The Scottish director of the Game Conservancy Trust Ian McColl said: “We do grouse counts in sample areas from the middle of July and these two areas were the worst I’ve counted in about 10 years.”
Meanwhile in England, many experts are predicting that the English shooting season could be the worst since 1950. An outbreak of parasitic worms in the guts of the grouse reduced the number of chicks born in the spring and killed thousands of birds over the course of three months.
It is feared that the cancellation of the grouse shoots could badly affect rural communities, who could lose millions of pounds in income from visitors to the shoots.
(KMcA)
Friday is the ‘Glorious Twelfth’, the traditional start of the grouse-shooting season in the UK, with thousands of people taking part in shoots across the country.
However, many shoots have been reduced or cancelled completely, due to bad weather and outbreaks of tick infestations and parasitic worms, which have seriously reduced bird stocks.
The Moorland Association reported that bird stocks had been reduced by between 50% - 90%, compared to last season’s figures.
In Scotland, cold and wet weather in May and June has been blamed for poor grouse numbers, while the warmer winter weather is believed to be to blame for high number of tick infestations in grouse this season.
The worst hit areas in Scotland are South Deeside and West Perthshire. The Scottish director of the Game Conservancy Trust Ian McColl said: “We do grouse counts in sample areas from the middle of July and these two areas were the worst I’ve counted in about 10 years.”
Meanwhile in England, many experts are predicting that the English shooting season could be the worst since 1950. An outbreak of parasitic worms in the guts of the grouse reduced the number of chicks born in the spring and killed thousands of birds over the course of three months.
It is feared that the cancellation of the grouse shoots could badly affect rural communities, who could lose millions of pounds in income from visitors to the shoots.
(KMcA)
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Northern Ireland WeatherToday:A showery start with outbreaks most frequent north of Lough Neagh and through the morning, before dwindling during the afternoon as the northwest breezes ease and brighter spells of weak sunshine prosper. Maximum temperature 8 °C.Tonight:A dry night, save for a few light showers around the coasts, with prolonged clear spells and light winds bringing a frosty dawn for many in central and southern parts. Minimum temperature -3 °C.
