Members' Business — S6M-03023 Colin Smyth: Ethical Principles in Wildlife Management

That the Parliament notes reports that thousands of animals and birds are taken and killed in wildlife management operations every year, including in the South Scotland region; considers that these are sentient beings that are capable of experiencing pain and suffering; notes the view that Scotland should lead the way in sustainable and humane interaction with the wild animals in the environment; notes the belief that wildlife management should be governed by ethical principles, such as the international consensus principles for ethical wildlife control, which recommend that efforts to control wildlife should, wherever possible: alter the human practices that cause human-wildlife conflict and develop a culture of coexistence, be justified by evidence that significant harms are being caused to people, property, livelihoods, ecosystems, and/or other animals, have measurable outcome-based objectives that are clear, achievable, monitored, and adaptive, minimise animal welfare harms and be confined to the fewest number of animals, be informed by community values as well as scientific, technical, and practical information, be integrated into plans for systematic long-term management, and be based on the specifics of the situation rather than negative labels such as “pest” or “overabundant”, and notes the view that there are opportunities to integrate ethical principles into the Scottish Government’s strategic approach to wildlife management and its species licensing review.