Corvid and spring trap review to report by April 2027

The evidence on corvid traps, mole traps and approved spring traps in England is under formal review, with the work due to conclude by April 2027, the Government has confirmed. In a written answer on 13 October, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) has been commissioned to review the evidence on “mole traps, corvid traps and Spring Trap Approval Order spring traps in England” as part of the animal welfare strategy’s work on wild animals.

Why does the trap review matter to keepers?

Larsen and other corvid cage traps sit at the centre of lawful predator control on shoots and farmland in the nesting season, and spring traps approved under the Spring Trap Approval Order carry much of the legal rat, grey squirrel and stoat control that protects wild bird nests. Any recommendation to restrict trap types or conditions of use would land directly on gamekeepers’ daily work, as the sector saw when the general licences were overhauled. The review’s terms and consultees have not been published; the written answer records only the commission and the April 2027 deadline. The last wholesale change to England’s predator control rules, the general licence overhaul of 2019, arrived with little warning and left keepers without lawful cover in the nesting season until replacement licences were issued. The sector’s organisations have pressed since then for changes of this kind to be evidenced and trailed well in advance, and the published end point at least gives the review a clock. What keepers will want next is the terms of reference, and an assurance that the practical record of approved traps, checked daily under the approval order’s conditions, is weighed alongside laboratory welfare studies.

Where has the trail hunting consultation got to?

The same answer confirms that consultations have already been held on trail hunting, on cages for laying hens and on lamb welfare, and that the department is “now analysing the responses”. No date is given for a Government response on trail hunting. On snares, a separate answer the previous day restated that the Government “will do this as swiftly as possible” on its manifesto commitment to end the use of snare traps in England, again without a timetable.

What happens next

APHA’s trap review runs to April 2027, and the sector’s organisations can be expected to press for practitioner evidence to be weighed alongside welfare studies, as they are already doing on the gamebird call for evidence. The trail hunting analysis continues with no published date for a response. Both answers are on the UK Parliament written questions site.