harriernumberswellbelow
whatthelandcansupport,
limitedbyillegalkilling
and disturbance.2015 RSPBpublishes
20-yearreviewofillegal
raptorpersecutionin
Scotland,whichconfirms
779 casesbetween 1994
and2014,andcorrelates
incidenceswithdriven
grouse shooting.2017 ScottishNatural
Heritageannouncesit will
nolongerissuelicensesfor
snaring mountain hares.2018 WatsonandWilson
publishscientificpaper,
demonstratingdeclines
inmountainharesin
theeasternhighlands.
TheLangholmMoor
DemonstrationProject
concludes,suggesting
compromisebetween
raptorconservationand
shootinginterests could
not be found.2019 Hesfordetal
ofGameandWildlife
ConservationTrust
publishstudythatshows
haresaremoreabundant
ondrivengrousemoors
thanonwalked-upor
unmanagedmoorland.2020 MSPsinScottish
Parliamentvotetoamend
theAnimalsandWildlife
(Penalties,Protectionsand
Powers)(Scotland)Bill,
banningunlicensedculling
of mountain hares.TIMELINE
BBC Wildlife 55GROUSE MOORS
September 2020Pre-1999,mountainhare
declineswerelesssevere
onlandmanagedforgrouse
shooting,associatedinstead
with conifer plantations.
A lineofgunswait
behindstone‘butts’
duringa grouseshoot.
Belowright:A truckload
ofknittedmountain
haresata protest
against hare culling.Left
tor
ght:
Scot
and:
The
Bg
Pcture/NPL(x2);
Pete
Ca
rns/NPL;
Lew
sThomson/A
amy;
Ken
Jack/A
amy
conservationistsarguetheprecautionary
principle– managementshouldnot
goaheaduntilmorecomprehensive
monitoring,acrossthehare’sentire
distribution,is established.Whyareharesindecline?
Again,theanswertothisquestionis not
straightforward,andthescienceis hotly
contested.Currently,themainlineof
enquiryconcernscullingondrivengrouse
moors.ReferringbacktotheWatson
andWilsonstudy– whichdemonstrated
severedeclinessince 1950 – thedata
showsthatpre-1999,declineswereless
severeonlandmanagedfordrivengrouse
shooting,andwereinsteadassociatedwith
coniferplantations,whichreducehares’
preferredmoorlandhabitat.Thissupports
theargumentofshootingintereststhat
mountainharesdobetteronmanaged
moors.However,post-1999,declines
ongrousemoorsacceleratedto
almost 31 percenta year.The
authorstheorisethatthis
coincideswith
whenthe
‘reservoirhost’theory
emerged,andculling
became commonplace.Justa yearlater,a teamofscientistsfrom
theGameandWildlifeConservationTrust
(GWCT)publisheda paperthatdirectly
contrastedthefindingsofWatsonand
Wilson. From 16 yearsofcountdata,they
claimthathareabundance
wassignificantlyhigheron
drivengrousemoors
thanareasofwalked-
upshooting,orthosewith
nomanagementatall.The
authorsarequitecriticalof
WatsonandWilson’swork,
callingthemethodology
“inconsistent”,andblame
declinesonafforestation,
changestomoorlandmanagement
andnaturalcyclic fluctuations.Muirburnon
grousemoorsmay
reducemeadow
pipit numbers.