Gamebird shooting on an industrial scale is failing nature and animal welfare

3 September 2026

Tomorrow (4 September), the Government has said that it will launch a major Call for Evidence on the rearing, release, and shooting of gamebirds in England. The review will take a welcome and much-needed look at the impacts of the shooting industry on nature and protected sites, animal welfare, biosecurity and disease, wildlife crime, and natural resources.

The issue is likely to attract strongly competing views. Wildlife and Countryside Link, the largest environment and animal welfare coalition in England, has serious concerns over the consequences for wildlife, habitats and animal welfare and says that the review must pave the way for policy that dramatically reduces the scale, intensity, and suffering of modern gamebird shooting.

Richard Benwell, CEO of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said:
“Gamebird shooting on its current scale is incompatible with the recovery of nature, animal welfare and biosecurity. Millions of birds are reared in inhumane conditions and released to be shot each year, while a huge amount of protected places are intensively managed to support shooting. Government should set a clear direction away from these damaging practices and towards land management that restores nature.

“In the uplands, management for grouse shooting can mean burning and degrading precious peatlands that should be storing carbon, holding water, and supporting wildlife. Elsewhere, tens of millions of pheasants and red-legged partridges are released into the environment, putting pressure on habitats and native wildlife and making disease risks worse. There are serious welfare concerns for gamebirds during intensive cage-rearing and after release, while the persistent association between criminal bird of prey persecution and land managed for gamebird shooting remains a stain on the industry.

“Government should end gamebird imports and there must be a major reduction in the number of non-native birds released, backed by enforceable limits on stocking densities. This is an opportunity to end the caging of birds bred for shooting and introduce strong welfare standards, enforced by routine inspections. Consequences for wildlife crime should be increased to provide a meaningful deterrent.

“Our countryside should be managed to recover and protect wildlife, restore healthy ecosystems, and tackle climate change, not to maximise the number of animals available to shoot.”