Release of non-native game birds in UK to be challenged in court

Wild Justice plans legal action over environmental impact of shooting industry's release of 50m non-native birds each year

The legality of releasing 50 million non-native pheasants and partridges into the British countryside each year is to be challenged in the courts by a new crowdfunded campaign.

The government should be forced to carry out environmental assessments of the impact of the shooting industry's release of game birds into the wild each year, according to Wild Justice, a campaign group led by environmentalists Mark Avery, Ruth Tingay and Chris Packham.