Killing time Hedgehogs, foxes, stoats and even badgers are killed for Glorious Twelfth

As the shooting season opens, environmental and land reform campaigners have the grouse industry in their sights. Estates burn moors, contribute little to the economy, and are engaged in a grotesque ‘war on wildlife’, they say – and the government must act to regulate the industry. Our Writer at Large investigates

THERE are some – lairds, gamekeepers, Saudi millionaires and hedge fund managers holidaying in the Highlands – who consider the sound of shotguns ringing out over a grouse moor as iconic and Scottish as a good glass of whisky or a glen shrouded in mist. Others though – wildlife campaigners, ecologists, land reformers, and an array of academics and scientists – see the grouse moor industry as barbaric and feudal, a bloodsport which does little for the Scottish economy while damaging the environment, and is worthy of, if not being banned, then regulated to the point of near extinction.

The shooting season began two days ago – on “the Glorious Twelfth” – and an exchange of fire is now taking place over the future of Scotland’s grouse industry. On one side, campaigners want the Scottish Government to impose the strictest licensing regime on grouse shooting; on the other, landowners are defending a sport seen as increasingly out of sync with 21st-century sensibilities.

The campaign against grouse shooting centres around Revive, a coalition including the think-tank Common Weal, Friends of the Earth, the League Against Cruel Sports, and Raptor Persecution UK – which monitors illegal killings of birds of prey – and the animal welfare group OneKind.

Killing to kill

THEIR findings are compelling. Their most shocking talking point is that up to a quarter of a million other animals are killed as “collateral damage” to ensure grouse can be shot for “entertainment”. Hedgehogs, foxes, stoats, a wide array of birds, and even badgers are killed in traps. Up to 300,000 grouse are shot in Scotland each year – so the numbers have to be kept artificially high to ensure the sport can flourish. That means targeting animals which predate on grouse. However, animals which don’t predate on grouse – like hedgehogs – are also in jeopardy. Revive calls this “killing to kill”, and the grouse industry’s “circle of destruction”. It has also been described as a “war on wildlife”.

Campaigners highlight the “barbaric” traps used, including “stink pits”: piles of dead animals ringed with snares to lure creatures like foxes. Once killed, the newly dead animals are thrown onto the stink pit as part of the bait pile. Biologists say hundreds of birds of prey – including golden eagles – have been killed on grouse estates over the years. That’s a crime, yet successful prosecutions are rare. Campaigners also say that the industry’s use of muirburn – the practice of burning heather – is, in the age of climate change, an environmental threat. Heather can be found on peatland – a huge store of carbon which risks being released. The dominance of grouse moors also means Scotland is far too homogenous when it comes to wildlife, landscape and biodiversity.

The economics

THE coalition against grouse shooting says the industry provides little significant economic benefit to Scotland. Common Weal found that grouse shooting accounts for more than one million hectares of land – that’s roughly half the size of Wales or 13 per cent of Scotland’s landmass.

At a generous estimate, the industry brings in roughly £32 million to the economy,

Campaigners want the Scottish Government to impose the strictest licensing regime on grouse shooting but landowners are digging in and defending their sport

creating around 2,600 mostly seasonly low-paid and precarious jobs. That means grouse moors have an economic value of roughly £30 per hectare, and create one job per 330 hectares.

By contrast, forestry, which accounts for 18% of Scottish land, brings in £973m and creates 26,000 jobs. That is 42 jobs and a value of £900 per hectare. Common Weal says forestry “encourages biodiversity, improves soil and land, and enables a range of spin-out industries”. Biomass renewable energy currently accounts for just 0.24% of Scotland’s land, brings in £49m, and creates 900 jobs; onshore wind takes up 6.5% of land, brings in £483m and creates 5,400 jobs. Campaigners note that wildlife photography tourism alone brings in five times the amount of grouse moors, meaning – as Revive says – “shooting animals with cameras does more for the economy than shooting animals with guns”.

Polling shows 70% of Scots oppose grouse shooting for sport – compared to only 12% who support the activity. Many campaigners feel the industry is “indulged” by the Government as it’s a sport for the rich, run by the rich.

The big picture

MAX Wiszniewski, campaign manager at Revive, says statistically “if the Scottish economy was the size of Ben Nevis, then the grouse moor industry would be the size of an Irn Bru bottle”. The campaign says that if the grouse moor industry was created today and taken to the Scottish Government in a Dragons’ Den-style pitch it would be rejected immediately. Grouse moors also receive subsidies if, for example, there is forestry or sheep on the land.

The Scottish Government has promised some sort of licensing framework, but campaigners say the pledge is vague and fear it won’t be robust. They want licences to be conditional on issues such as: an end to the “killing to kill” cycle which sees other animals destroyed to artificially boost grouse numbers; a clean record when it comes to bird of prey killings; and no extensive heather burning on grouse moors.

Wiszniewski says that when it comes to the “killing to kill” cycle about “40% of animals killed are not even target species”, meaning they are not predators of grouse. “What’s happening is morally abhorrent. It’s ritual slaughter every single year.”

Land abuse

THE preponderance of moorland for grouse shooting – land which could be put to use for forestry, campaigners say – “lowers the diversity of species and provides fewer ecosystems, meaning the continued management of grouse moors leaves a large area of Scotland in an impoverished state”. Big swathes of moorland are burned on “deep peat”, Wiszniewski says.

“If all the carbon that’s being sequestered in peat currently was released it would amount to 140 years of Scotland’s current carbon emissions,” he points out. “It should be illegal to burn on deep peat – this cycle of environmental destruction has to end.”

Grouse moors often carve out unsightly and environmentally damaging hill tracks so vehicles can reach shooting stations. There are also concerns about the use of “medicated grit” to feed grouse, and its effect on other wildlife and the environment.

Revive’s coalition wants any future licensing system to deal with these issues too – and if there has been “wildlife crime” on an estate, such as birds of prey killed, then no licence should be granted.

“Any breach of licensing conditions should mean loss of licence,” says Wiszniewski, “and that means there’s no longer the right to shoot. Although many would like this banned, we’re not calling for that. We want firm, sensible regulation. The bottom line is that simply killing other animals and burning the landscape to ensure there’s more grouse to shoot isn’t acceptable.”

Despite a commitment to regulate, “there should be more Government urgency”, says Wiszniewski. “We need to transition away from grouse moors to more economically and environmentally productive uses of land.”

Rich and powerful

PROHIBITING the “killing to kill” cycle and extensive muirburn would make running grouse moors more difficult and, campaigners hope, encourage landowners to sell land which could then be used better by local communities or for more productive industries.

Revive is lobbying the Scottish Government to act on these issues as part of the consultation around a Land Reform Bill. The coalition points out that the grouse moor industry – comprising some of Scotland’s most wealthy landowners – also lobbies the Scottish Government.

“They’re very powerful,” Wiszniewski says. “But the public are behind us and we want the SNP to be brave so we can genuinely transform our land for people, wildlife, the economy and the environment. What we’re asking isn’t radical, it’s inherently sensible.”

Killing eagles

THE illegal killing of protected birds on grouse moors is a major concern among campaigners. The most reliable long-term figures show that between 1994 and 2014, 779 birds of prey were illegally killed across all of Scotland. The RSPB has previously said that “buzzards, goshawks and peregrines continue to be illegally targeted, particularly in areas managed for ‘driven’ grouse shooting”. Golden eagles have been killed on grouse moors. The RSPB has called for