Avian flu outbreak triggers fears over shooting season

‘We are really concerned. We’ve had terrible problems sourcing pheasants and partridges’

THE Glorious Twelfth is under threat this year after a global outbreak of avian flu caused a shortage of birds.

Restrictions on the import of birds because of the outbreak has led to fears that this year’s shooting season will be decimated, with some gamekeepers already being told their services will not be needed.

France has paid its gamekeepers and farmers compensation for crushing 25 million eggs because of avian flu, many of which would have come to Scotland.

Rules restricting the export of birds have also fuelled the shortages.

The first day of the grouse shooting season across Britain, on Aug 12, is usually the most lucrative for sporting estates but this year they are facing catastrophic losses, the Scottish Gamekeepers Association (Sga)warned.

“We are really concerned about it, we’ve had terrible problems sourcing pheasants and partridges this year,” Alex Hogg, the SGA chairman, said.

“Some keepers have lost their jobs because there’s just no shooting to sustain it, it’s drastic. The small shoots, they’re the ones that really suffer. Some of the bigger shoots have managed to hold together but lots and lots of keepers are getting paid off and shoots are shutting down.”

In terms of financial losses, Mr Hogg added: “It’ll be millions. It’s also a winter tourism attraction which takes the hotels right through until January and it’s a great booster for them.”

There are 240,000 people who enjoy shooting in Scotland and flurries of international visitors take part in the sport each year, although it is feared shortages will last several months.

Bird flu outbreaks have been reported across the world due to a highly infectious strain of the virus.

The shooting season starts on Aug 12 for grouse and in September and October for pheasants and partridges, and the outbreak shows no signs of slowing, leaving the shooting industry depleted.

In the UK, there have been reports of thousands of seabirds being found dead, leading to fears the virus will spread to threatened species.

Professor Paul Wigley, Professor of avian infection and immunity at the University of Liverpool, said: ‘If you’re shooting a pheasant, it’s flying, and it’s probably unlikely to have pathogenic avian flu but pheasants are galliformes so they’re very similar to chickens and they are susceptible to influenza.

“You’d also expect to see high levels of disease when they’re being reared by gamekeepers.”