From the end of this week, Britain's minister for wildlife is sending men to destroy the nests of wild buzzards by blasting them with shotguns.

He is meant to be the Government's wildlife champion. So why is Richard Benyon backing a plan to destroy the nests of protected birds of prey in the interests of pheasant shooters?

Conservationists have condemned plans that would allow buzzard nests to be destroyed and the birds of prey taken into captivity to protect pheasant shoots.

South African Louis Oosthuizen shrugged off the disappointment of his Masters play-off defeat to Bubba Watson to make a strong start at the Malaysian Open today.

End the denial over bee poisoning

For the first time in two and a half years, Tiger Woods is on top of an American leaderboard going into the weekend. In 2009 it would have seemed so simple. Now it is simply so enthralling.

The High Court today ruled that a paralysed man can begin legal proceedings for a doctor to end his "intolerable life".

Wildfires sweeping through one of South America's most famous national parks are devastating thousands of acres of pristine habitat. So far, more than 21,000 acres of Torres del Paine have been destroyed by blazes that have yet to be brought under control.

From a baking-hot spring to a chilly summer, 2011 played havoc with our plans, our wardrobes – and our native wildlife.

From a baking-hot spring to a chilly summer, 2011 played havoc with our plans, our wardrobes – and our native wildlife. Michael McCarthy reports

Just when Rory McIlroy believed he was finally following up his US Open win, a little-known countryman rose to snatch the Dunhill Links crown from his grasp. Michael Hoey kept Northern Ireland's incredible run going with an inspired finish at the Home of Golf.

If the full-throated ease of the fabled nightingale is no longer to be heard in Berkeley Square, we now know why. A tawny owl has been spotted there, which is enough to frighten off the light-winged dryad of Keats's melodious imagination. It has followed the fox and the seagull as part of the encroachment of country upon town which has been a feature of our landscape.