Introduction

Capercaillie in Scotland were once common and widespread but it became extinct in 1785 due to hunting and land mismanagement. Today birds originate from Swedish stock successfully reintroduced in 1837 by Lord Breadalbane at Taymouth Castle. Soon after reintroductions were made in various pinewood forests throughout Scotland using birds from Taymouth Castle and Capercaillie brought over from Scandinavia.

Today the Capercaillie are again facing a crisis. A survey made by the RSPB and Scottish Natural Heritage in 1999 showed that Scottish Capercaillie numbers had declined to around 1,000 individual birds, which is half the population estimated from the last national survey in 1994.

It is not just in Scotland that they are facing decline but also in other habitats throughout the world, due mainly to the same variety of problems as we have here. Some of the key causes which the project addressed are deer fencing, deforestation and predation. We unfortunately cannot prevent the impact of global warming, but we will continue to work towards putting the Scottish population in a position where it is more able to cope with the effects of climate change.

There are many small things that people can do to help conserve capercaillie, such as keeping dogs on leads during breading seasons and avoiding areas where capercaillie might be lekking at key times of year.

Keep an eye out for signs like this - they are put up at key times of year and give advice on how visitors to capercaillie forests can help with capercaillie conservation.