READING the Standard (March 13) prompts me to ask a few questions as regards to blood sports.

Why on earth do people in any way with close connections to the Countryside Alliance and so-called country sports want to kill our natural indigenous species to keep man-introduced non-indigenous species in our natural environment?

First you have gamekeepers shooting stoats, weasels, foxes, and some unscrupulous game keepers killing raptors, badgers, etc, just so they can keep another non-indigenous species, namely the Chinese-Mongolian pheasants alive, so they can enjoy shooting them, plus red-legged partridges and red grouse.

Now we come to the fox hunters – sorry, drag hunters – blocking badger setts still and encouraging foxes to breed, which strangely enough they class as pests, to so-say chase with two dogs and legally shoot.

Now we have the anglers joining forces to kill otters, cormorants and sawbills, so they can preserve another non-indigenous species – the Chinese, Japanese, European Carp.

We have other bodies calling for the eradication of all non-indigenous species, eg grey squirrel, zander, American signal crayfish, Canada geese, so why not all other species I have mentioned and then leave our natural, native predators alone, or is this all to do with turning our countryside into a blood sports playground for just the minority that chooses to keep non-indigenous species solely for their specialist bloodsports?

M J HAINES

Cirencester