Wildlife

Grouse Moor Welfare and Management

Driven grouse shooting management on moorland has welfare implications for grouse, predator species, and wider moorland wildlife.

Key Facts

Driven grouse moors intensively manage predators to maximize grouse populations for shooting
Hen harriers are illegally persecuted on some grouse moors despite legal protection
Mountain hares are culled extensively on grouse moors to reduce tick burden
Burning practices for habitat management affect moorland diversity

Welfare Considerations

Predators including foxes, stoats, and corvids on grouse moors are killed in large numbers through legal trapping and shooting. Illegal killing of raptors including hen harriers causes direct welfare harm to legally protected species. Mountain hare culls involve mass killing of a native species. The welfare costs to persecuted species must be weighed against grouse population benefits.

What You Can Do

Support campaigns against illegal raptor persecution on grouse moors
Advocate for evidence-based regulation of intensive grouse moor management
Learn about moorland ecology and the wildlife impacts of driven grouse management
Support rewilding alternatives to intensive grouse moor management