The introduced Red-Legged Partridge in Britain: management and challenges for the future

Abstract

It is known that red-legged partridges were first moved from France to Britain for shooting purposes in 1673, though they were not successfully introduced until the end of the eighteenth century. As a result of releasing rather than natural expansion, red-legged partridges occur nowadays in the majority of England, eastern Wales and eastern Scotland, with a scattering presence in other locations.

There are around 72,500 breeding pairs in Britain, with a negative national trend observed during the last decades, but this trend is fairly stable on estates participating in the GWCT's Partridge Count Scheme. Many areas of Britain support high red-legged partridge densities during the shooting season owing to large-scale releasing, allowing an average harvest of 90 birds/100 ha (combining shoots with and without releasing). Red-legged partridges in Britain have lost their genomic integrity owing to the constant supplementation by reared birds of mixed parentage. There are no notable differences between the British and continental red-legged partridges, as they are found in a variety of habitats within their native range and show the same behavioural and reproductive patterns. Additionally, demonstration projects conducted in Britain show that wild red-legged partridges respond positively to targeted management, including predator removal, habitat management and supplementary feeding. To prevent deterioration in the species' conservation status, actions needing to be implemented include (1) an increase in wild partridge management, (2) recognition of wild partridge shoots, (3) use of pheasant releasing when partridges are at low numbers and (4) genetic screening.