The extent and impact of shooting on black grouse Tetrao tetrix in northern England.

Abstract

In northern England, 95% of black grouse Tetrao tetrix leks occur on the fringes of managed grouse moors. Recognising the threatened conservation status of black grouse in northern England, most grouse moors have refrained from deliberate shooting for more than a decade. Despite this, black grouse are unintentionally shot in mistake for red grouse Lagopus lagopus scoticus. We assessed the circumstances and frequency of shooting in northern England and its potential impact on population recovery from three independent sources, annual shooting returns as part of the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust's (GWCT) National Gamebag Census (NGC), incidents of shooting reported independently to the North Pennines Black Grouse Recovery Project (NPBGRP) and losses of radio-tagged black grouse to shooting. Moors contributing to the NGC between 1998 and 2008 reported 110 black grouse shot from 13 of 23 moors, averaging 1.2% of the estimated post-breeding population. From 2001 to 2008, 152 black grouse from 28 moors were reported shot independently to the NPBGRP, equivalent to an annual 1.0% of the post-breeding population. The majority appeared unintentional (78%), with females (68%) more frequently shot. Out of 244 radio-tagged black grouse on 15 estates, four adult females were shot (1.6%). The voluntary restraint from harvesting black grouse in northern England appears effective, with incidents of shooting infrequent. Continued effort to minimise shooting incidents, particularly on the fringe of the range to encourage settlement of dispersing females, may contribute to increasing numbers and range.