Protecting Scotland’s wildlife

A ban on the use of snares in Scotland, to improve animal welfare and promote humane wildlife management, is coming into force.

The ban was introduced through the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024 and will come into force on Monday 25 November.

Agriculture Minister Jim Fairlie said:

“The Scottish Government recognises that control of predators is sometimes necessary in order to protect vulnerable species, as well as livestock and agriculture, and that land managers should be allowed to take action to effectively manage wildlife for these purposes. 

“However, there is sufficient evidence to show that snares can lead to unacceptable levels of suffering for wild animals, as well as posing an unacceptable risk to other wildlife and domestic species accidentally caught in them.

“We worked closely with our stakeholders during the passage of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024 and actively considered all proposals put to us. Whilst the removal of snaring will reduce options for land managers, more humane and efficient methods of control such as shooting and trapping remain available for necessary wildlife management. 

“Banning the use of snares will ensure that the Scottish Government continues to meet its commitments to uphold the highest standards of animal welfare.”

The use of snares is already banned in most EU countries and has recently been banned in Wales.  

The Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024 (“the Act”) was introduced to address raptor persecution and ensure that the management of grouse moors and related activities are undertaken in an environmentally sustainable and welfare conscious manner. The Act does this by implementing the recommendations of the independent review of grouse moor management (the “Werritty” review). 

The Act contains provisions to:  

• Ban the use, supply and possession of glue traps and introduces licensing and training requirements for certain other types of wildlife traps;  
• Introduces a licensing regime for land used for the shooting of red grouse 
• Licenses all muirburn and bans muirburn on peatland unless for limited purposes
• Introduce enabling powers to allow Scottish Ministers to extend the role of inspectors appointed under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to investigate certain wildlife offences. 
• Bans the use of snares 

More infornation at: Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill: use of snares and powers of Scottish SPCA inspectors - consultation - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Pic credit: brown hare Ilona Seipp via Canva