Wildlife needs urgent protection

A REPORT issued recently by Environment Minister John Gormley revealed shocking news about the state of our wildlife and their habitats, with some species being described as being on the brink of extinction, while the status of others is “poor”, including Ireland’s hares and otters.

The Irish hare is designated a highly protected species under the 1976 Wildlife Act. Yet it is persecuted, legally, by hare-hunters, including harrier and beagle packs, while hare-coursers are permitted to snatch, under licence from the environment minister, up to 7,000 hares from the wild annually for use as live lures before greyhounds at coursing meetings.

Meanwhile, illegal hare hunters with lurchers and greyhounds routinely trespass on farmlands, hunting hares with impunity, while an understaffed and under-resourced ranger service endeavour to enforce the Wildlife Act.