Science Current Events | Science News | Brightsurf.com
 
Email a Friend Send to a friend
Printer Friendly Print Hunting ban had no effect on fox numbers

Hunting ban had no effect on fox numbers

September 01, 2002

The Mammal Society tomorrow (5 September) publishes the results of its study into the impact of hunting on fox numbers in Nature, the premier scientific journal in the world. The study shows that the ban on fox hunting during the foot and mouth outbreak had no effect on the number of foxes in Britain.

Chairman of The Mammal Society, the only organisation solely dedicated to the study and conservation of all British mammals, Professor Stephen Harris said "The Mammal Society's study is the first scientific study into the impact of hunting on fox numbers, and it shows quite clearly that hunting plays no role in regulating fox numbers. In fact these results add weight to the argument that foxes regulate their own numbers and that all forms of fox culling are less important than hitherto believed."

He continued "During the foot-and-mouth epidemic hunting was banned and other forms of fox control were curtailed to varying extents. Yet despite the ban on hunting and restrictions on a variety of rural activities for nearly a year, fox numbers did not increase or decrease. In fact actual numbers declined slightly, although the decline was not statistically significant."

This study provides the only quantified data on the impact of the ban on hunting on fox numbers and refutes claims from a number of lobby groups that fox numbers increased significantly during FMD. It also lends support to Lord Burns, Chairman of the Committee of Inquiry into Hunting with Dogs in England & Wales, who concluded that a permanent ban on hunting is unlikely to result in an increase in fox abundance.

For The Mammal Society`s study 160 randomly selected 1-kilometre squares throughout Britain were surveyed by volunteers and paid staff between February 1 and March 17 in the two winters immediately preceding FMD (1999 and 2000). The FMD outbreak started in February 2001 and hunting was banned for ten months and severely curtailed for another two months. Each square was resurveyed between February 1 and March 17 2002 as soon FMD was over.

Counts of fresh scats (faeces) were used to compare fox densities immediately before and immediately after the ban on hunting. Volunteers and staff had to visit each square twice during the six-week survey period. The first visit was to select their survey route (they walked along linear features such as hedgerows, field edges, riverbanks, etc, since foxes travel along these in the winter) and remove all the old fox scats. On the second visit they counted all the new fox scats so that we could calculate fox density. This was a massive effort - the survey route in each square was on average 6.9 kilometres long, and by the end of the project volunteers and staff had walked 4416 kilometres counting fox faeces as they went! This is equivalent to walking from Land`s End to John o`Groats more than three times. What`s more, it had to be done slowly and looking at the ground all the way!

The results were analysed for the country as a whole and regionally; in seven regions there was no change in fox numbers, in Eastern England fox numbers increased, in Southern England they declined. Overall scat density declined by 4.7%, although this was not statistically significant. A number of tests were done to quantify the impact of hunts on fox numbers. There was no difference in fox population changes between those 1-kilometre squares that lay in areas where fox hunts operate and those outside areas that were hunted. Hunting pressure also varied between the nine regions, but there was no relationship between the intensity of hunting in each region and the fox population changes in that region.

The Rt Hon Alun Michael MP, Minister for Rural Affairs, is holding a series of Public Hearings on Hunting with Dogs next week (September 9 to 11) and these exciting new results will be included at these sessions.

The Mammal Society is currently undertaking a variety of other mammal monitoring projects and is seeking volunteers to help with these projects. To take part please phone The Mammal Society on 020 7498 4358 or e-mail enquiries@mammal.org.uk.

Mammal Society, The




Science Research Departments



Earth Science

Alternative Energy  |   Anthropology and Archaeology  |   Earthquakes and Volcanoes  |   Environment and Nature News  |   Global Warming  |   High-Energy and Particle Physics  |   Ozone Hole  |   Scientists Slow Light  |   Tsunami


Space Science

Astronomy and Space News  |   Black Holes  |   Chandra X-Ray Observatory  |   Extrasolar Planets  |   Hubble Telescope  |   International Space Station  |   Jupiter Galileo Mission  |   Jupiter Cassini Mission Flyby  |   Mars Exploration  |   Mars Odyssey 2001  |   Mars Global Surveyor  |   Mars Polar Lander  |   Mars Climate Orbiter  |   Mars Pathfinder  |   Meteors and Asteroids  |   Mir Space Station  |   NEAR Asteroid Probe Mission  |   Pluto Planet Debate |   Search for Extraterrestrial Life  |   Space Shuttle Program  |   Space Shuttle Mission: STS-102  |   Space Weather


Life Science

Animal News  |   Biotechnology and Genetics  |   Brain Research  |   Human Cloning  |   Dinosaur and Fossil Discoveries  |   Endangered Species  |   Gene Therapy  |   Genetically Modified Food  |   Stem Cell Research  |   Whales and Whaling


The Everything Kids' Science Experiments Book: Boil Ice, Float Water, Measure Gravity-Challenge the World Around You! (Everything Kids Series)
by Tom Robinson

The Everything "RM" Kids' series is being relaunched at a phenomenal new price! They're the same great quality you've come to expect, still packed with tons of activities and puzzles in two-color -- now with a lower price that everyone can appreciate! Stock up on these perennial bestsellers that keep your kids active and engaged. The wide scope of subject material -- from jokes to science...



Science Fair
by Dave Barry, Ridley Pearson

Grdankl the Strong, president of Kprshtskan, is plotting to take over the American government. His plan is to infiltrate the science fair at Hubble Middle School, located in a Maryland suburb just outside Washington. The rich kids at Hubble cheat by buying their projects every year, and Grdankl's cronies should have no problem selling them his government-corrupting software. But this year, Toby...



The Science of Good Food: The Ultimate Reference on How Cooking Works
by David Joachim, Andrew Schloss, A. Philip Handel

The science of cooking is the most fascinating and influential development in cuisine. Award-winning chefs and cutting-edge restaurants around the world are famous for using the principles of chemistry and physics to create exciting new taste sensations. From Ferrán Adrià of El Bulli restaurant in Spain to Homaro Cantu of Moto in Chicago, great chefs combine unexpected textures and flavors...



Pop Bottle Science
by Lynn Brunelle

It's pure bottled magic! A complete kit that ingeniously marries science and fun in the breakthrough vein of The Bug Book & Bug Bottle (1.7 million copies in print) and The Bones Book & Skeleton (1.65 million copies in print), Pop Bottle Science presents 79 easy, hands-on experiments that probe the worlds of chemistry, physics, biology, geology, weather, the human body, and even astronomy.The Pop...



The Book of Totally Irresponsible Science: 64 Daring Experiments for Young Scientists
by Sean Connolly

What could be more fun for kids than to have the kind of rip-roaring good time that harkens back to pre-video game, pre-computer days? Introducing 64 valuable science experiments that snap, crackle, pop, ooze, crash, boom, and stink! From Marshmallows on Steroids to Home-Made Lightning, the Sandwich Bag Bomb to Giant Air Cannon, The Book of Totally Irresponsible Science awakens kids' curiosity...



On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen
by Harold McGee

Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking is a kitchen classic. Hailed by Time magazine as "a minor masterpiece" when it first appeared in 1984, On Food and Cooking is the bible to which food lovers and professional chefs worldwide turn for an understanding of where our foods come from, what exactly they're made of, and how cooking transforms them into something new and delicious.Now, for its twentieth...



365 Simple Science Experiments with Everyday Materials
by E. Richard Churchill, Louis V. Loeschnig, Muriel Mandell

Illustrated by Frances Zweifel. The fundamentals of science are brought to life in a year's worth of fun and educational hands-on experiments that can be performed easily and inexpensively at...



The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2008 (The Best American Series)

"The articles . . . draw the reader more tightly into the web of the world. They forge links in unexpected ways. They connect us to nature and to each other, and those connections nourish the intellect and uplift the spirit."—Jerome Groopman, M.D., editorThis year's Best American Science and Nature Writing offers another rich assortment of "fascinating science and impressive journalism" (New...



Everything Kids’ Magical Science Experiments Book: Dazzle your friends and family by making magical things happen! (Everything Kids Series)
by Tom Robinson

Want to make things disappear? Change salt to sugar? Create slime using items found in your kitchen? Well, with The Everything Kids' Magical Science Experiments Book, you can do just that--and more! Filled with more than 50 science experiments that bend the rules of time, space, and logic, The Everything Kids' Magical Science Experiments Book shows you how to unlock the mysteries of...



Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting (Spanish Edition)
by Fil Hunter, Steven Biver, Paul Fuqua

An amazing (and some would say magical) resource on photographic lighting that has been talked about in the community and recommended for years. This highly respected guide has been thoroughly updated and revised for content and design - it is now produced in full color! It introduces a logical theory of photographic lighting so if you are starting out in photography you will learn how to...

© 2008 BrightSurf.com