Cull of the Wild

Cull of the Wild delves into the challenges conservationists face – practical and ethical – as they try to counter one of the greatest threats to biodiversity: invasive species.

Culling animals for the sake of conservation is a thorny, sometimes crucial and often controversial issue. For naturalist Hugh Warwick, it is far from a comfortable subject. He loathes the idea of killing (or even eating) animals. Yet, as an ecologist, he is acutely aware of the need, in some instances, to kill and remove invasive species whose presence harms the wider environment.

In Cull of the Wild, Hugh tells the stories of how various ‘invasive’ species came to be where they shouldn’t and reveals the impacts of their presence. He talks to experts and meets the people whose job it is to set the traps and pull the trigger. From rats eliminated from important British seabird islands where they were eating their eggs, to control programmes targeting species such as the American mink, grey squirrel, and in Australia, the cane toad, these systems are complex and challenging but often essential to help other species survive.

As we all know, sometimes programmes involving the ‘legal killing’ of animals are hugely emotive, such as when tourists pay to ‘cull’ species such as elephants or other ‘big game’. Join Hugh as he hears from all sides in the debate in this moving and thought-provoking book.