Thursday 20 March 2014

Risk Assessment for Wildlife

Health and Safety and Risk Assessment figure large in the minds of those employed by bureaucracies like SWT. There've been a number of occasions when we've had responses from them indicating something can't be done, or alternatively something had to be done, because of risk assessment issues.

Yet all seems different when it comes to wildlife, confirming once more that far from being a sanctuary for nature this is a place where human needs and concerns take precedence.

Take their horrendous barbed wire for instance, still a constant sore 9 years after installation. We've often speculated on its effects on wild animals. One strand is bad enough but four strands is beyond any definition I know of barbarous. One of these strands is close to the ground and not at all user-friendly for smaller or lower beasts such as badgers. Deer however are quite happy to leap straight over high fences. Or so we thought until recently. There's no doubt most deer sail comfortably over walls and fences. But what about the smallest?

Some months ago I was watching a group approaching the fence. The first few could be seen leaping clear. At the point of the leap my view of the fence itself was obscured by low trees shrubs and bracken but the deer could easily be seen high above as they jumped high over the wire. Then something puzzling happened. Two small hinds appeared on the other side without being seen to jump. It was as if they had simply walked straight through. Yet when I walked up to the fence shortly afterwards it seemed most unlikely that they could have got through without jumping. Since then I've looked at the barbed wire fence every time I've been close to it; and particularly where deer tracks lead up to it and continue over the other side.  And the evidence is clear and hard even for SWT's wilfully blind trustees to disregard.



The most common place to see deer hair attached to the wire barbs is not at the top but lower down on the third strand from the top. Some, at least of the deer are struggling through the narrow gap, ignoring the barbs.

That is concerning because barbed wire is, well ... barbed, and that can damage eyes as well as catch on thick coats.  There have been instances of young deer being found dead after being trapped in wire fences.



So come on SWT:  where's the form you have to fill in that makes you feel less bad about it? We know the wild animals are unlikely to have their own lawyers so all we can fall back on is some goodwill and compassion. Can we really hope for that?

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