Wildlife near Moray: Extra measures needed to save Capercaillie
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Paths may be closed to walkers across parts of the Cairngorms in order to protect Capercaillie.
The national park's board has agreed to consider this option, plus several others, after being told the iconic bird species might not exist in the wild beyond the next 20 or 30 years.
Capercaillie numbers have fallen radically since the 1950s when there were 20,000 across Scotland.
It's believed that as few as 1000 currently remain – mainly in the Cairngorms.
The park's board agreed the recommendations of a report which states: "Greater consideration could be made of creating more and/or larger refuges from human disturbance through the closure of paths and tracks either temporarily during the breeding season or by permanent removal.
"The evidence suggests that removal of crows, foxes and pine martens would also likely lead to an improvement in breeding success.
"However, any control of pine martens would be contentious, given its protected status.
"An alternative approach to removing predators is to provide them with alternative food during the breeding season, which has been shown to improve the breeding success of other ground nesting birds."
The report added that more work should be done to either mark or remove deer fences as capercaillie, due to their size and the need for more take-off space, often collide with them.
It continued: "It is unlikely that employing a single option of those listed will be sufficient to prevent further population declines.
"Instead, action should be taken on all key areas and any interventions will need to be carried out on as wide a scale as possible within the core area of Badenoch and Strathspey.
"Any delay in enacting these might result in the population declining to a point where extinction becomes inevitable."
The Capercaillie, the largest member of the grouse family, was hunted to extinction in Scotland during the 1700s, before being re-introduced from Europe during the 1800s.
Their breeding ground is called a lek – an old Norse word meaning 'play'.
Here males come together to display and fight during early mornings throughout the Spring.
Only the top male gets to mate so it’s not uncommon for a few to die each year from exhaustion or wounds.
The females only attend the lek for a few crucial days in mid to late April.
If the lek is disturbed, particularly on one of the few mornings when the hens are there, there might be no breeding at all that year.
Xander McDade, the convenor of the park's board, said: "Given the current rate of decline, I firmly believe that there is a need for action that will achieve quick results.
"As such, we need to act swiftly and decisively, which is why I am happy to support the recommendations set out in the board paper.
"Capercaillie are a key species in the Cairngorms National Park, and it is therefore extremely important that we should focus on the areas of work that will have the most impact.
"It would be catastrophic if we were to lose capercaillie from our native woodlands, so as an organisation, let’s make sure we are championing the areas of work outlined."
