GWCT Study Finds Pheasant Releasing Does Not Raise Fox Activity

A peer-reviewed Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust study in Wildlife Biology found no rise in fox activity when pheasants were released, comparing eight release sites with 10 similar non-release farms in central southern England over 19 months and 1,600 fox scats, Shooting UK reported Oct. 28. In the first year the non-release farms showed more fox signs, and the GWCT, an interested party in the gamebird debate, credits keepers' legal predator control while saying it could not test that directly. The paper lands in the last week of Defra's call for evidence on rearing, releasing and shooting gamebirds in England, which closes at 23:59 on Nov. 1.