Friday 8 June 2018

SGA CONTINUES TO TRAIN PEOPLE IN OPERATING LEGAL SNARES


Despite running snaring courses for several years now, the SGA- as a Scottish Government-approved snare training provider- continues to train future users in best practice snaring.

Courses like the one this week in Perth (see picture), continue to be well attended and the organisation is pleased to see a high level of awareness regarding the necessity for the humane use of  fox snares in the countryside.

The Snares (Training) (Scotland) Order 2015 looked at the welfare issues surrounding the setting of snares. This resulted in all those wishing to operate snares legally in Scotland being compulsorily trained to do so, with the welfare of the animal being paramount.

One of the organisations approved by Scottish Government to deliver training was The Scottish Gamekeepers Association. To date, the SGA reports that it has trained over 600 of its own members and over 200 non-members out of the 1500+ individuals in total who have been accredited to operate snares legally in Scotland. 

Proportionate to the numbers of individuals trained to use snares, there have been very few recorded prosecutions connected to the misuse of snares by individuals who have been properly trained and whose fox or rabbit snares carry the necessary personal identification tag which must be obtained from Police Scotland.

Snares are a legal management tool deployed for the control of abundant foxes which predate ground nesting birds, some of which have suffered declines of almost 50 per cent in recent years and are now regarded a national conservation priority. https://www.rspb.org.uk/about-the-rspb/about-us/media-centre/releases/410756-curlew-should-be-uks-top-conservation-concern-says-rspb-scotland

Snares, when set in accordance with the law, can be deployed in areas and at other times of the year where alternative methods are not effective. High vegetation in summer months and areas of extremely rough terrain are examples of situations where snares are the most effective method for fox control. Similarly, when set legally, the snare acts as a restraining device until the target animal can be despatched or any non target species can be released unharmed. Scientists also deploy snares to safely capture animals they intend to fit with radio tags.

To find out about future snare training courses, please keep in touch with our website and social media pages.