The decline of one of Britain’s most enigmatic and endangered birds could be reversed after the government promised to rethink rules on shooting.
Conservationists say recreational shooting is a key cause of declines in native populations of the woodcock (Scolopax rusticola), a secretive wader that lives in woodlands and feeds at night using its long bill. The bird is on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of endangered species. Numbers fell by 29 per cent between 2003 and 2013.
However, following a lengthy battle between Chris Packham’s Wild Justice campaign group and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, ministers have promised to review limits on when the bird can be shot.
George Eustice, on one of his last
