More than three million pheasants and partridges were imported into Scotland throughout the most severe bird flu outbreak in history – a move critics say risked endangering native birds.
The most recent global strain of the highly contagious avian disease killed nearly four million birds in the UK, ranging from farmed poultry to wild and endangered species.
Between March 2022 and March 2024, during which bird flu was present in Scotland, around 3,040,000 gamebirds were imported from abroad, according to data The Ferret obtained from the UK’s Animal and Plant Health Agency.
Most gamebirds, which are typically released into the countryside to be shot for sport, originated from countries which were also suffering bird flu outbreaks at the time.
An MSP claimed the imports risked “exacerbating” the avian influenza in Scotland and endangering native bird species, while RSPB argued that the animal health regulator should test animals for bird flu before they are imported.
The Scottish Government said all gamebirds were imported within “well-established rules and restrictions”, and stressed there were no recorded cases of bird flu in the UK due to imports.
Poultry and poultry products can be imported into the UK from countries that are experiencing disease outbreaks. But imports are prohibited from zones within those countries that have been put under restrictions.
During the outbreak, most gamebirds were imported from France, where many of the battery farms that rear the birds are located. The country reportedly suffered the highest bird flu death toll in the European Union (EU) in 2022-23.
Some 19,320 birds came from the United States while the remainder originated from European countries which were also hit by the avian influenza. Although shoots were scaled back in the UK due to import restrictions, the number of gamebirds brought in appears to have surged compared to previous years.
In 2022, we reported that 2.8 million gamebirds arrived into Scotland between January 2018 and April 2022, an average of just over 650,000 per year. Yet three million were imported over the following two years.
An estimated 35 to 48 million pheasants and five to 10 million partridges are reportedly released into the UK each year to be shot for sport.
A 2022 report from the UK Government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) concluded that amidst the outbreak, releasing pheasants en masse resulted in “a very high likelihood” of infecting wild birds with the disease. However, it was uncertain about this due to a lack of data.
Unlike domestic chickens, pheasants reared in captivity are deemed to be wild by the Animal and Plant Health Agency once they are released, even if they continue to be fed, and are not subject to the same biosecurity measures to prevent their contact with wild birds.
Last year the Scottish Government admitted to MSPs that all enclosures in Scotland where gamebirds are held before being released were open to direct or indirect contact with wild birds, either through unroofed release pens, or holes in the netting or walls.
Answering a question from a Labour MSP in October 2023, the Scottish Government said bird flu was confirmed at six gamebird rearing and release facilities in Aberdeenshire, Dumfries and Galloway, and Angus in August that year. The disease was also found in pheasants in Moray and Aberdeenshire in the following months.
It is now mandatory for keepers of birds to register with the Scottish Government. Official data obtained by The Ferret shows that 643 companies or individuals in Scotland usually keep 50 or more gamebirds.
The totals amount to more than 3.5 million pheasants and more than a million partridges, with the numbers reaching as high as 40,000 birds per farm.
In April, the Scottish Government launched a consultation on the phasing out of cages for gamebirds, which are not subject to the same welfare standards as farmed poultry.
Cases of avian influenza continue to be confirmed across Britain, with new strains discovered in England for the first time in recent weeks.
Recent cases include pheasants in Gloucestershire, a white-tailed eagle in the Highlands, and endangered great black-backed gulls in Fife and Na h-Eileanan an Iar. In the EU, bird flu is reportedly spreading faster than it did in 2023.
Do gamebird imports boost the risk of bird flu?
Critics claim that importing gamebirds boosts the risk of spreading bird flu to other animals in Scotland, and called for more stringent testing. But the Scottish Government pointed to a lack of evidence.
Scottish Greens spokesperson for rural affairs Ariane Burgess MSP said: “The importing of three million so-called gamebirds during an avian flu outbreak is not only exacerbating the issue but totally ignorant to the dangers native bird species in Scotland are facing during these outbreaks. Our wild birds are victims of this activity.
“When bird flu is diagnosed there is no treatment. Quarantine is not something done as standard and the majority of birds suffering will be killed or live in severe distress and pain until they die.
“By importing swathes of gamebirds like pheasants and partridges, who once released are considered wild and cannot be kept again, it increases the risk to all other species of bird.”
Duncan Orr-Ewing, head of species and land management at RSPB Scotland, said: “The large-scale releases of non-native gamebirds into our countryside each year should be regulated by a licensing system as in other similar countries across Europe.
“We are extremely concerned about bird flu and disease transmission, as well the impacts such large-scale gamebird releases may have on sensitive habitats and species. We believe all imported pheasants should be tested by (the animal health regulator) for bird flu at the point of import.”
The Animal and Plant Health Agency pointed out that disease control is devolved to Scotland and declined to comment.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “All imports of gamebirds to Scotland are carried out in accordance with well-established rules and restrictions laid out in EU and Scottish and English disease control legislation, as well as in internationally agreed standards, to minimise the risk of cross contamination and disease.
“Confirmed cases of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) – bird flu – have been overwhelmingly caused by direct or indirect contact by captive birds with wild birds and there have been no recorded cases of HPAI in the UK due to imported birds.”
Scotland director for the British Association For Shooting and Conservation, Peter Clark, echoed the government’s points.
He added: “There are no confirmed cases of wild birds being infected with (bird flu) due to contact with infected gamebirds and there is no evidence that infected gamebirds are being released in the first place.”
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Header image thanks to Pixabay. Licence: Creative Commons – CC0
How many cases of bird flu were found on RSPB reserves, including the 1000s of barnacle geese that were left to rot, instead of being picked up and incinerated.
More cases were reported on RSPB reserves than were found on sporting estates.
Not a very balanced report, obviously you are pursuing your own biased agenda.