Predator scheme lifts grouse numbers

RESEARCHERS have hailed the success of a predator management scheme that has doubled the number of endangered capercaillie broods in areas where it has been deployed.

- By Nick Forbes

Predators, including the pine marten, another protected species, are one contributor to their decline as they eat the bird's eggs and chicks.

With just over 500 of the ground-nesting birds left in the wild, the capercaillie — a large woodland grouse — is in danger of extinction in the UK.