Restoration of a sustainable wild grey partridge shoot in eastern England

Abstract

Eastern England has been a stronghold for grey partridges Perdix perdix, but in common with the rest of Britain, numbers declined from the 1950s onwards. Partridges within a 40 km² study area in the county of Norfolk have been monitored in conjunction with the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) since the 1950s. Since 2001 a programme of habitat creation, supplementary feeding and predation control was undertaken by the landowner, farmers and gamekeepers to restore partridges. Numbers increased from 4.7 pairs/km² in March 2001 to 54 pairs/km² in March 2011. These densities are comparable with those before the national decline in grey partridge stock. In the last three winters, between 13 and 74 birds/km2 were harvested and spring stocks continue to increase.