Summary
Wales has become the most successful UK haven for the black grouse, a new survey has shown. Numbers of the beautiful game bird, best known for its spectacular dawn mating dance or 'lek', have plummeted by 29% in Scotland. And in England, populations of the bird are at best being kept stable. But their population in Wales has risen by 39% from the first UK survey in 1995-96. Pat Lindley, upland species officer at RSPB Cymru, said yesterday, 'For the UK as a whole however this is a blow in terms of numbers, and if the trend continues it could soon be a conservation catastrophe. The black grouse has many ecological requirements at the landscape level and is one of the hardest species to help.
'The success of our partnership work here in Wales shows that the right habitat measures in the right places are effective. The message from the Welsh increase is that habitat improvements to create favourable conditions for this species really make a difference.'See the full content of this document
Extract
Wales Bucks Trend As Grouse Population Soars
The black grouse has been hit very hard because the open woodlands and grassy and heathery hills where it lives have been planted with too many exoti...
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