
Watchdog permits 170k wild bird killings in five years - howard941
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/22/conservation-body-issues-170000-wild-bird-kill-permits-in-five-years
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zokier
I hate when articles like this throw big numbers around without giving
context, clearly preying on emotional responses. And leading with the cute owl
chick picture certainly emphasizes that feeling.

What are corresponding population sizes for the bird species and their
endangerment status? What sort of impact this killing actually has had?

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MatthewWilkes
The top one on the list, the greylag goose, was subject to about 68k
destructions. In 2011 the number of greylag geese in the UK was 140k. In 2008
it was 86k and in 1930 it was 500.

They are rated as Least Concern globally, but it seems fair to estimate the
number of interventions at about one third to half of the population.

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zokier
Note that the 68k was over the period of five years, so about 14k/year.
Considering how the population has grown, I can't feel too sorry for the geese
in this case. Of course the situation probably is quite different for other
species.

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MatthewWilkes
I missed that, thanks!

