Gamekeepers fear mental toll of proposed new deer law

Hailed as a "landmark moment" by animal welfare campaigners, MSPs passed the Wildlife Management and Muirburn Bill on March 21. 

It bans snaring and glue traps to catch rodents, gives greater powers to Scottish SPCA inspectors to tackle wildlife crime, introduces a new licensing framework for grouse moors, and strictly regulates muirburn, the controlled burning of vegetation on peatland. 

Scottish animal welfare charity, OneKind, welcomed the "monumental" legislation, "which will make it an offence to use a snare to trap a wild animal, or in any way that is likely to injure a wild animal," it said.

"Snares have been used primarily to protect birds such as grouse and pheasants from foxes, so there is a surplus of these birds for people to shoot for ’leisure’.

"However, snares are indiscriminate and often trap, injure and kill a wide range of non-targeted species including deer, badgers and even companion animals, such as cats and dogs.

"Snares cause immense physical and psychological harm to any animal caught in them, whether the targeted species or not."

OneKind’s patron, wildlife TV presenter Chris Packham, said: "The only thing snares were protecting was the cruellest parts of the shooting industry.

"[This] is a big win for Scotland, for compassion and for common sense, but most importantly a win for our severely declining wildlife.

"A win I hope to see rapidly extended to England so we can confine this brutal and outdated savagery to the history books where it belongs."

Scottish Land and Estates said licensing of grouse shooting will be a ‘seismic change’ for rural estates and their employees, including gamekeepers and shepherds.

Estates wanting to shoot grouse will now require a licence for a period up to five years. 

Its director of moorland, Ross Ewing, said: “The legislation goes far beyond the stated intention of deterring the persecution of raptors by introducing a broad range of relevant offences under which licences can be suspended or revoked. It is important the licensing schemes are as light-touch as possible."

The Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGS) chairman, Alex Hogg MBE, added: “We have deep fears for the future of red-listed species because of the snaring ban. The impacts of this step must be robustly reviewed and challenged, if need be. We will not be broken.

"This Bill is the biggest change we’ve faced since devolution. We now go straight into new deer legislation."