Driven grouse shooting requires intensive moor management including predator control, burning, and medicated grit that raise significant wildlife welfare questions.
Grouse moor management welfare concerns operate at multiple levels. The legal predator control required to boost grouse densities involves killing significant numbers of foxes, corvids, and mustelids — animals with documented capacities for suffering. The ongoing illegal persecution of raptors, including hen harriers and peregrines, on some moors represents deliberate wildlife crime that causes suffering and threatens nationally rare populations. Lead shot, used predominantly in grouse shooting, causes secondary poisoning in raptors and other scavengers consuming shot game. The cumulative welfare impact across multiple species on managed moors is a significant area of policy debate.