Press Releases - 2013

As we bellow out the 12 Days of Christmas this festive season, not many people will realise that the ‘partridge in the pear tree’ is actually in need of a huge amount of support following a massive decline in numbers over the past 40 years.

Over 80 supporters of the Bristol and North Somerset branch of the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) raised more than £8,000 for the charity at their annual fund-raising dinner.

The wild grey partridge, immortalised in the traditional Christmas carol, The Twelve Days of Christmas, is one of our most rapidly declining farmland birds, having suffered a massive 86 per cent decline over the past forty years. To secure the future of this iconic Christmas species, the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) is appealing to farmers and gamekeepers to extend their festive cheer to grey partridge conservation this winter.

There’s still time to enter one of this year’s best charity prize draws for those with an interest in the finest country sports.

While temperatures plummet in Russia to minus 19^oc and below, thousands of migrating woodcock are starting to head for warmer wintering sites in the UK. As these small wader birds battle with bad weather and tough environmental conditions during their long, perilous flights, British scientists from the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) are monitoring the heart-stopping progress of 24 birds by using advanced satellite technology.

The many ground-breaking research initiatives on woodcock that have been pioneered by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust since the late 1970s have helped to fuel the huge international interest in this elusive species among bird watchers, game interests and conservationists alike.

Perth Museum and Art Gallery was the perfect surroundings for the official prize-giving for the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust Schools’ Art Competition on Thursday evening.

Knepp Castle was the celebrated venue for the recent launch of a prestigious 'Fabulous Four Raffle', which aims to raise a staggering £40,000 for wildlife research.

A collaboration between the GWCT and the Wildlife Department of Himachal Pradesh saw our very own Dr Francis Buner visiting the Great Himalayan National Park in India at the end of October to run a two-week bird-ringing training course.

The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust is launching a Big Farmland Bird Count in February 2014 and all farmers and gamekeepers are being urged to take part to help determine how farmland bird species are faring on UK farmland.