Sir, Animal right activists may oppose pheasant shooting on a farm run by Reading University (University halts game shoots after animal rights campaign - Nov 15) but perhaps they might pause to consider the rights of farmland birds. On our farm in Leicestershire, we demonstrated that a well-run shoot can increase the abundance and breeding success of several bird species including, blackbird, song thrush, dunnock, whitethroat, chaffinch and yellowhammer. When we looked at thirty-four farms nearby, we found that those with shoots had 30% more farmland birds. As the State of Nature report makes clear we need to do more, rather than less, to help our wildlife thrive again.
Andrew Gilruth
Director of communications at GWCT
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