HC Deb 24 May 1990 vol 173 c380W
Mrs. Mahon

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food where he obtained the 1987 figures for the numbers of Arctic fox factory farms in England and Wales.

Mr. Maclean

Information on fur farms was collected in 1987 from representatives of the industry for the reviews of the 1982 mink and coypu keeping orders.

Mrs. Mahon

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will enact similar provisions to those in the Northern Ireland Arctic Fox Keeping Order for the rest of the United Kingdom.

Mr. Maclean

The Ministry is considering whether controls on the keeping of destructive non-indigenous animals should be extended to Arctic fox and other species. A long and expensive campaign has saved the Broads from destruction by the coypu and we would not want another destructive pest species to escape and become established in Britain.