Importance of Gamekeepers Confirmed
GB Poultry Register reveals large numbers of gamebirds released.
Over half the premises registered under the GB Poultry Register are shoots or game farms, Defra has revealed.
The figures emerged recently when two top Defra officials addressed the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation AGM on the subject of bird flu.
By the registration deadline of 28 February, some 20,000 bird flocks had been registered altogether and over 11,000 of them were pheasants or partridges.
Simon Hewitt, Head of Defra’s Exotic Disease Control Division (pictured), told an audience of 200 NGO members that Defra was very grateful to the Organisation for circulating the registration forms to gamekeepers and encouraging such a good response. He said the data would help in planning to deal with any AI outbreaks and ensure that vets could rapidly contact the right people in any future outbreak area.
The actual numbers of gamebirds registered were 38 million pheasants and 14 million partridges but Mr Hewitt emphasised that these were early figures and may well include double counting. For example, game farmers and their customers will, quite rightly, have registered the same birds for different months of the year and this will take time to analyse fully.
An NGO spokesman commented, “It is great news that the shooting world has responded so well to the urgent requirement to register. Not only will this assist a rapid reaction to any outbreaks but it also demonstrates the massive scale of the industry and how important it is that any movement restrictions are sensible and do not close things down unnecessarily. To put it in context, the UK game flock is roughly the same size as the UK table egg production flock.”
Responding during the AGM to Defra’s presentation, Ken Butler, the NGO Chairman thanked Defra for the sensible and open way in which plans for AI control have been developed with the industry so far. “Everyone hopes,” he said “that they will never have to be used.”