article_snippet: In 2008, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) estimated that 40 million gamebirds were bred to be shot each year in Britain.
article_snippet: The figure includes pheasants and partridges and is now believed to be higher still.
article_snippet: You do not need a licence to hunt pheasants or grouse in the UK but a firearms or shotgun certificate is required.
article_snippet: The pheasant shooting season runs from October to February each year.
article_snippet: Sixty per cent of UK wildlife is in decline.