The following is an MSP briefing on behalf of League Against Cruel Sports Scotland and REVIVE, the coalition for grouse moor reform, May 2022
This briefing includes:
● Background
● Motion S6M-03023
● The problem
● The solution
● What are the seven principles
● Opportunities
Background
On Tuesday 31st May, Motion S6M-03023, Ethical Principles in Wildlife Management, tabled by Colin Smyth MSP will be debated during Members’ Business. We believe this debate is a crucial turning point in attitudes towards wildlife management as it questions the deep rooted behaviours entrenched in how society deals with wild animals perceived to be ‘pests’.
The League Against Cruel Sports and the Revive Coalition fully support this motion and believe ethical wildlife control should be embedded into Scottish Government and societal practices of wildlife management to significantly improve wild animal welfare.
Motion S6M-03023
That the Parliament notes reports that thousands of animals and birds are taken and killed in wildlife management operations every year, including in the South Scotland region; considers that these are sentient beings that are capable of experiencing pain and suffering; notes the view that Scotland should lead the way in sustainable and humane interaction with the wild animals in the environment; notes the belief that wildlife management should be governed by ethical principles, such as the international consensus principles for ethical wildlife control, which recommend that efforts to control wildlife should, wherever possible: alter the human practices that cause human-wildlife conflict and develop a culture of coexistence, be justified by evidence that significant harms are being caused to people, property, livelihoods, ecosystems, and/or other animals, have measurable outcome-based objectives that are clear, achievable, monitored, and adaptive, minimise animal welfare harms and be confined to the fewest number of animals, be informed by community values as well as scientific, technical, and practical information, be integrated into plans for systematic long-term management, and be based on the specifics of the situation rather than negative labels such as “pest” or “overabundant”, and notes the view that there are opportunities to integrate ethical principles into the Scottish Government’s strategic approach to wildlife management and its species licensing review.
The problem
Attitudes towards wild animals is significantly different to those afforded to domestic and farmed animals, with intervention often the default position as a response to any problem. This intervention comes in many forms, including killing, moving, deterring and administering contraception. The harm this causes to the animal will vary but in almost all cases, it will not have been carried out with the target species’ best interests in mind.
On shooting estates in Scotland, predator control is used in abundance to ensure plentiful supplies of gamebirds for sport shooting. In 2020 the League Against Cruel Sports as part of the REVIVE coalition published what it believes to be the most comprehensive and robust field study of ground predator control on Scotland’s shooting estates. Over 15 months, an independent surveyor mapped the location and frequency of traps and snares set on seven shooting estates to calculate the true extent of animal killing as a result of predator control to sustain the driven grouse shooting industry. The results were shocking:
● 57,000 killing devices deployed each day in Scotland representing the equivalent
of over 10,000,000 active trapping and snaring days per year.
● Up to a quarter of a million animals are killed each year in an attempt to totally
eradicate foxes, stoats, weasels and crows to increase the number of grouse.
● Nearly half of the animals killed are non-target species such as hedgehogs,
dippers and mistle thrush.
This worrying illustration of attitudes towards wild mammals perceived to be ‘pests’ is extremely worrying, and has strengthened the League’s resolve that this has to change. This example is specific to grouse moor management, but the problem is far more widespread going well beyond grouse and game bird shooting. Wild mammals and birds are persecuted regularly because eradicating them is seen to be the easiest solution,
often in the most brutal of ways. This has been the way for hundreds and hundreds of years, but is this approach still acceptable in a modern, progressive society that understands all animals are sentient?
The solution
Scotland has the opportunity to lead the way with a significant mindset change in how we deal with wildlife intervention. Tuesday’s debate provides the opportunity to examine how ethical reasoning can be applied to wildlife management and interventions to ensure animal welfare is prioritised. We recommend that the international consensus principles for ethical wildlife control (‘the seven principles’) be embedded into Scottish Government and societal practices of wildlife management. The seven principles ensure that where there is a perceived need for wildlife intervention then a framework is followed where ethical reasoning is applied, evidence is consulted, and animal welfare is prioritised. The principles necessitate questioning the assumptions about ‘legitimate predator control’ inherent in wildlife management.
What are the seven principles?
1. Modifying Human Practices - looking at the root causes of conflict rather than only
the problematic outcome.
2. Justification for Control - providing evidence that substantial harm is being caused
to people, property, livelihoods, ecosystems, and/or other animals.
3. Clear and Achievable Outcome-Based Objectives - set clear and achievable
outcome-based objectives, which are continuously monitored and adaptive.
4. Animal Welfare - prioritising animal welfare that causes the least harm to the
least number of animals.
5. Social Acceptability - the acceptability of the practice should be evaluated before
action is taken.
6. Systematic Planning - Decisions to control wildlife should be integrated into a
program of long-term systematic management.
7. Decision Making by Specifics Rather than Labels - Decisions to control wildlife
should be based on the specifics of the situation, not negative labels applied to
the target species.
Opportunities
As stated earlier we believe ethical wildlife control should be embedded into Scottish Government and societal practices of wildlife management. There are a number of opportunities in the near future where this could be applied including the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Bill and the forthcoming grouse moor licensing. This debate offers the opportunity to challenge the deep-rooted belief that ‘pests’ must be killed and provides a framework for approaching wildlife management in a measured and evidence based manner. The seven principles don’t prevent wildlife management, they simply ensure that where it is deemed necessary it is done in a strategic and sustainable way which ensures animal welfare is prioritised.
