THE future of the capercaillie, one of Scotland’s most endangered species of birds, is being threatened by snares set by landowners to catch foxes.

A rise in the use of the traps since foxhunting was banned earlier this year has resulted in more of the birds being caught and killed.

Other species, including badgers, deer and hares, are also being caught in the snares — often leading to a slow, lingering death.

The overuse of snares has prompted Bruno Julien, head of the European commission’s environment unit, to write to the Scottish executive to express concern.

The snares comprise a wire that is threaded through an eyelet at one end. It allows free movement of the wire in both directions and relaxes when the animal stops pulling.

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, requires gamekeepers to check snares every 24 hours, but wildlife campaigners say that, in many cases, this is not being done.

There are also fears that illegal “self-locking” snares, which tighten as an animal pulls to get free, are being used on some estates. In his letter to the executive, Julien says: “There are concerns . . . about some of the current practices of predator control employed on Scottish estates . . . it seems that on some estates there has been an increase in the use of snares for fox control.”

He goes on to ask that the potential impact of snaring on capercaillie be addressed and emphasises that the “long-term recovery of the capercaillie must be linked to sympathetic land management across a large part of Scotland”.

A report published last week by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) predicted that unless urgent action is taken to protect capercaillie, the species could be extinct in Scotland within a decade. There are thought to be less than 1,000 birds left compared with more than 20,000 in 1970.

The situation is so serious that the species was removed from the game list and fines of up to £5,000 were introduced in 2001 for anyone who was caught shooting the birds.

The laying of snares is widely used by landowners as a cheap and easy method of fox control. Few animals are killed instantly. Horrific injuries and an agonising and protracted death are common.

Dr Robert Moss, an adviser to the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Banchory, said there had been been an increased use of snares in woodlands and next to grouse moors.

“The gamekeepers are put in a very difficult position as they sign a contract not to kill illegally but are then put under pressure to kill what estate owners consider vermin,” he said.

“If someone puts out a snare they know very well that it will catch anything. So, therefore, the question of legal intent must come into play.”

James Oswald, a former gamekeeper and veteran capercaillie campaigner, said: “The executive is burying its head in the sand and is frightened to offend landowners. I doubt if there’s any more than 500 capercaillies left in Scotland. For anything that puts its head, neck or any body part into a snare there is a 98% chance of it getting caught.”

Andy Myles, from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Scotland, said: “This is a problem we are aware of and we will be very interested in the response of the EC.

“We would emphasise that working with the executive has in the past few years produced huge advances towards the conservation of this critically endangered species.”

The capercaillie, which is similar in size to a turkey, became extinct in Britain during the early 19th century. It was reintroduced into the Drummond Hills in Perthshire from Sweden in the 1830s, but numbers have dwindled.

In addition to the threat from natural predators such as foxes, weasels and pine martens, the capercaillie has fallen foul of thousands of miles of fencing erected across Scotland to protect forestry from deer. Thousands have broken their necks by flying into wire fencing.

It is thought that climate has also played a part with large numbers of chicks perishing each year from exposure during prolonged wet weather in May and June.

Archie Dykes, a council member of the Scottish Gamekeepers Association, conceded there was concern that snares were being left unchecked, but insisted they did not pose the biggest threat to the capercaillie’s survival: “We believe the population boom in foxes and pine martens is a bigger problem.”

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