Mr. Geraint Morganasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether, inasmuch as his Department affords financial assistance for the destruction of certain pests, such as coypus and grey squirrels, he will reconsider his decision to withdraw grant aid from rabbit clearance societies.
§ Mrs. FennerThese are not grounds for contributing towards costs incurred by occupiers in the exercise of their proper responsibility for clearing rabbits from their land. There is no financial assistance for grey squirrel control, and measures to contain the coypu within its present limited area are recognised as a special case for the reasons explained in the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Rye (Mr. Bryant Godman Irvine) on 8th April 1971.—[Vol. 815, c.303.]
Mr. Geraint Morganasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the estimated percentage increase in the rabbit population of Great Britain since the ending of grant aid to rabbit clearance societies.
§ Mrs. FennerNo meaningful national estimates of this kind can be made. The rabbit population fluctuates both locally and seasonally depending on factors such as age distribution, incidence of the myxomatosis virus, climate during the breeding season, the inroads made by predators, and pest control activities.