Killing of animals plays a part in their decline

IT is reported that more than a quarter of UK mammals are facing extinction and populations of our native species have fallen by an average of 60 per cent in less than 50 years.

Although habitat loss is the main reason for wildlife loss, the deliberate killing of animals plays a part.

Local TV news recently featured an increase in the illegal ‘sport’ of hare coursing.

The thugs who engage in tormenting and killing hares cause considerable suffering and cruelty.

They also frequently damage private farm land, resort to physical violence when confronted and intimidate and threaten farming communities.

Conservationists claim that brown hare numbers have declined by 80 per cent in the last 100 years.

Anyone suspecting that hare coursing is taking place is advised to contact the police.

Hares are not the only iconic mammals facing persecution.

Badgers are being killed under government orders, supposedly to halt the spread of bovine TB.

Although badgers are not endangered it is reported that in some areas they are being “pushed to the verge of extinction” as a result of the cull. Ironically, they are described as “among the most legally-protected wild animals in the UK”.

There are many claims that the badger cull has no impact on lowering TB in cattle and it is described as a “national disgrace”.

Interestingly, both badgers and hares are mentioned in the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) website’s wildlife offences with badger persecution noted as a priority. It seems that prosecution depends on who is doing the persecuting and for what reason.

Elizabeth Allison, Aylestone