Capercaillie are Scotland's largest grouse and face extinction as a breeding bird in the UK due to habitat loss, predation, and fence collisions.
Capercaillie facing fence collisions experience acute trauma and death. Disturbance at leks prevents breeding and causes abandonment stress. As population numbers fall, individual birds face increasing difficulty finding mates - an evolutionary welfare pressure compounded by habitat fragmentation. Without active conservation intervention including fence removal and marking, predator management, and habitat restoration, UK capercaillie extinction is likely.