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Game: Birds

Asked by Dan NorrisIndependentDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled Answered 15 June 2026UIN 7355

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of released gamebirds on populations of native invertebrates, reptiles and ground-nesting birds.

Answered by Mary Creagh

Defra’s Gamebird rapid evidence review was published in 2020 and is available here. Further research into these findings was published in 2025 and again this year, available here and here respectively. Defra has also funded research into the impacts of gamebird release on invertebrates. The PhD studies were commissioned by Natural England and the results are available here.

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