By Joseph Laws For Mailonline
Published: 01:58 BST, 5 May 2019 | Updated: 01:58 BST, 5 May 2019
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The Environment Secretary has seized control of shooting licensing powers in a bid to resolve a bitter row over the control of 'pest' wild birds.
Michael Gove informed Natural England on Saturday he was taking over some of its functions due to 'the scale of interest and concern' over the organisation's decision to revoke certain licences due to legal threats from wildlife campaigners.
Officials at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) have been instructed to formally gather evidence to help determine the future of licensing arrangements.
Mr Gove said the situation needed 'to be considered with particular intensity and urgency' and that he would decide on 'the best way forward'. The Environment Secretary takes over the issuing of general licences under section 16(1) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
Environmentalists at Wild Justice sought a judicial review of licences which permit the killing of certain species of wild birds to prevent serious damage or disease in farmland.
The legal challenge led Natural England, the body advising the Government on managing the natural environment, to revoke three general licences which allowed the shooting of 16 species of bird, including crows, magpies, Canada geese and feral and wood pigeons.
Broadcaster Chris Packham said he had received death threats after backing the legal challenge. He is a director of Wild Justice
They were replaced by individual licences, but rural bodies complained that the decision had left farmers and gamekeepers in chaos.
The issue hit the headlines after the bodies of two dead crows were hung from a gate outside the home of TV wildlife expert Chris Packham, two days after Natural England's decision.
Mr Packham, who is a
