Written question WQ86701
- Asked by
- Mark IsherwoodConservative
- To be answered by
- Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 8 days
Question
Does the Minister believe that there is a connection between the RSPB’s decision not to use fox snares on land it manages around Lake Vyrnwy and the likely extinction of curlew and black grouse in the area?
Answer
Answered by Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
The RSPB has a vertebrate control policy that prohibits the use of snaring as a predator control method. The most efficient method of fox control is the use of rifles with thermal-image scopes at night, particularly during the winter and early spring while vegetation is lower and before nesting begins. There are also various non-lethal methods in use or being explored to protect ground nesting birds.
Under different regimes bird population numbers can vary, but officials have seen no evidence to date that RSPB’s approach at Lake Vyrnwy and elsewhere in Wales is detrimental to natural levels of Curlew or Black Grouse.