A gamekeeper (often abbreviated to keeper) is a person who manages an area of countryside to make sure there is enough game for shooting, or fish for angling, and who actively manages areas of woodland, moorland, waterway or farmland for the benefit of game birds, deer, fish and wildlife in general.
Typically, a gamekeeper is employed by a landowner, and often in the UK by a country estate, to prevent poaching, to rear and release game birds such as pheasants and partridge,eradicate pests, encourage and manage wild red grouse, and to control predators such as foxes, to manage habitats to suit game, and to monitor the health of the game.
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Today, some five thousand full-time gamekeepers are employed in the UK, compared to as many as 10,000 at the beginning of the 20th century.[1] In addition, there are many people who spend their leisure time and money rearing game and maintaining habitats on their own small shoots. There are several variations in gamekeeping:
The League Against Cruel Sports estimates some 12,300 wild mammals and birds are killed on UK shooting estates every day and sees gamekeepers as playing a key role in the destruction of wildlife.[2] On the other hand, the shooting industry says that gamekeepers are vital wildlife conservation workers in the countryside.[3] The National Gamekeeper's Organisation (NGO) claims that nine times as much of the British countryside is looked after by gamekeepers as is in nature reserves and National Parks.[4]
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has criticised the poisoning of birds of prey on some shooting estates. This is probably the most controversial of all topics surrounding the gamekeeper. However, this is now much rarer than in its heyday, due to better knowledge of the ecology of birds of prey, and cases are generally condemned by the shooting community.[5]
In 1997, as a result of months of adverse media criticism of gamekeepers, the Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA) was formed with a goal of promoting the work of gamekeepers and developing training in the area of law and best practices in the field of game management. The SGA chairman is Alex Hogg, a gamekeeper from Scotland .[6]
In the same year [2] The National Gamekeepers Organisation (NGO)was set up for the same reasons and in addition they felt that the main shooting Association was not representing the keepers properly. The NGO now has some 15,000 members.
The NGO run industry based training for keepers and were the first organisation to react to EU legislation with regards to game meat hygiene producing a course for experienced keepers & stalkers which had approval from the Food Standard Agency.
The NGO continue to promote gamekeeping, stalking, shooting and fishing. Its chairman is Lindsay Waddell, a gamekeeper from Co. Durham.
Some colleges in the UK now offer courses in gamekeeping up to and including diploma level. One of these is the Northern School of Game and Wildlife at Newton Rigg, Cumbria, England.[7]
Elmwood College in Cupar, Fife is Scotland's main gamekeeping college. [8]
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