Capercaillie Emergency Plan 2025 - 2030 - Flipbook - Page 32
5. Removing and marking fences
Removing and marking fences
Much progress has been made over many years to mark and remove deer fences
in capercaillie areas. However, unmarked fences that remain, and fences with
degraded marking, still stand to contribute to juvenile and adult mortality.
Whilst the collision risk is reduced, marked fences still kill capercaillie and
research with radio-tagged birds showed that the percentage of juvenile
capercaillie killed by colliding with fences is higher compared to adult mortality.
This may be partly due to dispersal after fledging. Dispersal distances can
extend up to 16km and juveniles killed by fences as they disperse reduces the
likelihood of capercaillie being able to expand into new areas. Chicken wire
used on fences to restrict rabbits can also restrict the movements of broods.
Fences can also advantage predators that use fence lines to funnel prey.
With the threat of fencing removed, recent modelling by GWCT suggests
capercaillie numbers could be 16% higher and the risk of extinction within
50 years might fall from 95% to just 3%.
It is a target within the National Park Partnership Plan to minimise the amount
of fencing across the Cairngorms National Park by removing redundant fences.
Whilst this will benefit both capercaillie and black grouse, scope exists to do
more with recent estimates of unmarked fencing in capercaillie areas
indicating that c15km remains within 1km of active lek sites; c86km within
1km - 3km; and c156km within 3 - 5km of active lek sites.
FGS funding available for marking and removing fences and converting deer to
stock fences is restricted to within 1km of an active capercaillie lek site, and the
impacts of stock fencing on capercaillie are unknown. Additionally, FGS funding
is not always viable as it does not cover 100% of the costs involved in marking
and removing fences. A Long-term Forest Plan or Scottish Forestry approved
management plan is also a requirement to access the funding which can
present challenges for small landholdings with limited capacity.
To overcome these barriers in the short term, the Cairngorms Capercaillie
Project secured funding from the BASC Wildlife Fund, the National Lottery
Heritage Fund and volunteer support to rapidly mark or remove over 23km of
fencing within dispersal distances of active lek sites, reducing the risk of
collisions over 800 hectares.
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