Do Released Game Birds Really Turn the Countryside Into a Fox Magnet?

“Fox activity was either similar or lower on the game bird release sites than on the non-release sides,” he said. “That did surprise me.”

It's a rare admission from a researcher who insists on going in with no fixed conclusion. “I like to think we go in completely objectively,” Sage said. “If we don't do that in GWCT research, we get picked up on it very quickly.”

Why This Matters

The finding matters because it undercuts a chain of assumptions often used against releasing: pheasants attract foxes, foxes hammer wading birds and songbirds nearby, therefore releasing damages conservation. Sage isn't overclaiming – fox control on shoots is still worth understanding – but the ecology, he says, “is always more complicated and nuanced… than these particular predator relationships” suggest.

The Wider Principle

GWCT, with funding from BASC, has since extended the study to buzzards, kites and hares on the same estates, with early results showing more of all three on release sites than off them. The mechanisms are still being worked out – “we think habitat is a major player in this,” Sage said – but one thing is already clear: the simple story of “more pheasants, more predators” doesn't hold up.

Listen To The Full Episode Now...

Dr Rufus Sage, head of lowland game bird research at the GWCT, joins the ShootHub Podcast to respond to claims made in the BBC's Secret Garden series, which suggested released game birds are damaging Britain's native ecosystems.

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