A NUMBER of animal bones have been found by a campaign group on a bonfire on a grouse shooting moor.
Ban Bloodsports on Yorkshire’s Moors (BBYM) claims it discovered the bird and mammal skeletons torched alongside liquor bottles and shotgun cartridges on Range Moor, near Langsett Reservoir.
Along with the remains of a bonfire, BBYM also discovered animals caught in traps that have been left along the hill side including snares. The group has published photos of the findings on its website. The land, owned by Yorkshire Water, is leased to game keepers for grouse shooting.
Luke Steele, spokesperson for Ban Bloodsports on Yorkshire’s Moors, said: “Wildlife persecution uncovered on Range Moor, where animals are being caught in inhumane traps and snares before their bodies are callously tossed into a bonfire, is clearly inexcusable.”
The campaign group claims that stoats and weasels get caught in jaw-like fenn traps and can take up to two minutes to die. Yorkshire Water denies accusations that the animals were killed inhumanely and says bones found on the bonfire are the remains of two chickens which drowned in a pond.
A Yorkshire Water spokesman, said: “We are currently investigating the validity of the images and have requested that Ban Bloodsports confirm the location of where the pictures were taken.”
