Articles by James Common - Page 4

The notion of banning lead ammunition has sparked widespread condemnation from the sporting industry and an opposing petition launched to support the use of lead has now reached 17,000 signatures.

When I talk of being a conservationist, one of the most common assumptions is that I am also somewhat of an ecological hippy.

The subject of driven grouse shooting is a controversial one. In current times the shooting fraternity finds itself besieged with calls for an all out ban on driven grouse shooting and barely a day passes with the topic not broached on social media.

Though welcomed by farmers, the decision to implement such large scale lethal control on Islay has proven controversial and has been met with scorn by conservation bodies, recently prompting both the WWT and RSPB to take the issue to the European Commission in the hope of halting the plans.

Attacks by lynx on sheep, particularly lambs, are known from across Europe and it seems inevitable that lynx would kill sheep here in Scotland. It is important however to put this in perspective.