The RSPB press office forgot to mention (Mountain hares on grouse moors down 99% in 60 years, 14 August) that their study reinforces what is already known, that mountain hares are notoriously difficult to count and estimates based on walking through the heather can be no better than a guess.
Scottish Natural Heritage has understood this for some time and this is why in 2014 they harnessed the expertise of scientists at the GWCT and the James Hutton Institute to investigate why other counting methods indicate the population is stable.
Despite RSPB scientists acknowledging this and adding that their study ‘should not be assumed to be replicated across all grouse moors’, their press office could not resist the temptation to suggest otherwise. It is well understood that mountain hares thrive on grouse moors and, had the RSPB press office ever visited one, they would have realised that had mountain hares actually increased by as much as they now suggest they have declined, we would be walking knee-deep in them!
David Noble
Scottish Chairman
Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust
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