Abstract
IT is probably still too early to judge the effects of the War upon British wild life, for it was not until the second or third years of the War of 1914–18, when the calling-up of older men had more extensively depleted the gamekeeping profession, that the great increase in so-called ‘vermin’, including rarer species like the wild cat and polecat, became of national concern; nevertheless, the present War has speeded up a great deal of this disturbance of wild life by the greater activity at home. The most noticeable effects have been an extension of the range of normally persecuted species like the carrion-crow, fox, otter, kestrel, little owl and sparrowhawk, and this may be followed by a slower extension of species like the badger and raven. The use of sanddunes and lonely islands in the coastal defences and of rural parks for training the army has considerably disturbed the nesting haunts or ‘sanctuaries’ of uncommon species, particularly birds, more so than the building of factories in rural areas, and this may have a permanent effect in further reducing the nesting population of terns, waterfowl and waders.
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The War and the British Fauna. Nature 146, 517 (1940). https://doi.org/10.1038/146517a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/146517a0