Can partridges be saved from extinction?

IRELAND has several species of wild chicken. The pheasant is the most successful of them, but it’s not really an Irish bird.

Introduced in the 16th century, pheasants have thrived and the population is growing. The same, however, can’t be said for its smaller cousin, the grey partridge. This is a true native, a bird which arrived ‘under its own steam’, probably at the end of the last ice age.

The partridge prefers to run along the ground than to fly. Flying off over the sea is not its thing and it does not migrate. Apart from some foreign birds released here in the 1930s, the Irish population has been isolated for a long time and has become unique. To our shame, we neglected to protect the attractive little partridge and it is on the verge of extinction.