Wild birds can now be killed so there are more game birds to shoot in England Millions of beautiful, colourful pheasants are bred every year for British game farms. They are fattened up so that they’re slow and easy to shoot once the hunting season begins. But there has long been debate over when predators can be shot to protect them. Now, as part of new guidelines, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has included a definition for when these birds are considered livestock. Under guidelines on general shooting licences approved in England on 3 January, gamekeepers will be able to legally shoot crows, magpies and jackdaws to defend pheasants, grouse and partridges. But only when they are “kept in an enclosure or which are free-roaming but remain significantly dependent on the provision of food, water or shelter by a keeper for their survival.”