‘Friendliest golf course in North London’ kills foxes

There was a public outcry in Enfield last week after the Metro ran an expose about Enfield Golf Club - which calls itself the ‘friendliest golf course in North London’

There was a public outcry in Enfield last week after the Metro ran an expose about Enfield Golf Club - which calls itself the ‘friendliest golf course in North London’ - shooting foxes on their grounds. But, sadly, the culling of foxes and other animals is the norm for businesses in the UK, not an aberration.

Protect the Wild was involved in a campaign earlier this year to stop a fox cull being planned on Kingston Estates in London, and complaints of fox shooting at UK golf clubs are depressingly common (we even ran an exclusive post in June last year about foxes being shot as 'pests' in the garden of a Hackney vicarage!). At Protect the Wild, we would like to see golf clubs and other businesses celebrating sharing space with foxes instead of seeing them as 'pests'.

What happened in Enfield

Police received concerned phone calls from local people on Wednesday 26 March, after gunshots could be heard at the Course. Officers responded to say that the Club had informed them about the cull, which could go on until 2 am.

Unbelievably, the club initially denied that the cull was going on. Jackie Cox of North London Hunt Saboteurs (NLHS) told Protect the Wild:

"Enfield Golf Club posted on their Facebook page claiming they knew nothing about the shootings, only to receive around 500 scathing comments, including some from ex-employees alleging the club have been killing wildlife they found a 'nuisance' for years."

The Metro wrote that "angry residents" had branded Enfield Golf Club's behaviour "horrific", "inhumane", and "cruel".

Once Enfield Golf Club realised that they had to admit to the public that the cull had happened, they initially justified what they had done by saying they had received complaints from golfers that foxes were "biting their clubs". Since then, they have been forced to change their tune and make an 'unreserved' apology to Enfield residents for what they called a "poor decision".

Enfield Golf Course from Worlds End Lane, London N21 via Christine Matthews/Wikimedia Commons

Public outcry

While technically lawful (see our page on Foxes and the Law which explains that while foxes are not protected for conservation purposes they can only be killed ‘humanely'), the killings at the Golf Club have sparked a major public outcry in Enfield. Local Labour MP for Enfield North Feryal Clark called the Club's conduct "unacceptable" and "incredibly cruel". She continued:

"I am deeply disturbed and appalled by the idea of fox culling on a golf course in my constituency... It is not only an awful act but, frankly, incredibly cruel.

Golf clubs cannot and should not be involved in culling foxes. We must ensure that our wildlife is protected and I will be following this up with the golf club."

It seems like the Club has been deluged by complaints from people contacting them to express their dismay over the cull. One Enfield resident told the Metro that she had spoken to rudely and been called a "stupid woman" by the Club's manager, after she called him to express concern.

"Let’s show that Enfield cares about compassion and coexistence"

Local Wildlife Rescue group Lulubells Rescue posted on Instagram on Friday:

"We’ve just learned that Enfield Golf Club has hired pest control to shoot foxes—and even cubs—on their grounds.

Foxes are intelligent, sentient beings that deserve humane treatment. Urban wildlife is part of our environment, not a nuisance to be eradicated. We’re urging the club to halt this cruelty and explore humane, non-lethal alternatives.

Please help us spread the word—share this post and email the club asking them to stop the killing: info@enfieldgolfclub.co.uk

Let’s show that Enfield cares about compassion and coexistence."

The group has started a Change.org petition calling for an end to the culling of foxes and cubs across the UK.

Two red foxes - by Ken Billington via Wikimedia Commons

Rescue operation finds no surviving cubs

Moonstone Rescue, a local Wildlife Protection Charity, told the Metro that they had made repeated approaches to Enfield Golf Club - starting on Thursday - offering to rescue any surviving fox cubs, who would die of starvation without their parents.

Jackie from NLHS told us that after hearing news of the shooting she "thoroughly searched the areas where the foxes had been most frequently seen but could find no signs of life"

Wildlife rescuers weren't officially allowed onto the course until Saturday. When they got there, they too found empty fox dens marked with arrows, put there to facilitate the cull. According to NLHS:

"On Saturday we were joined by other members of North London Sabs, Moonstone Rescue, Foxangels and members of the public for one last search but, again, nothing. No foxes have been seen since the massacre. Locals are outraged and have pledged to immediately report any future suspicious behaviour by the golf club to us."

One member of Moonstone Rescue posted on Facebook:

"...sadly multiple dens were found, all of which were empty with no signs of life.

This would suggest that all 15 dens found have been targeted, especially those that were fresh.

The targeting would include both adults and cubs, as bodies of either have not been found, suggesting they have been removed."

Several organisations told Protect the Wild that the club have now promised that a cull like this will never happen again and indicated that they will cooperate with local wildlife protection organisations in the future. This statement is the result of people power, pure and simple. The Club wouldn't have made a public u-turn like this if they didn't feel they had to. Let's see if their words ring true, or hollow. Meanwhile, local residents will certainly continue watching the Club carefully.

Fox on brown grass during daytime nursing her babies, via Jeremy Hynes/Unsplash

Golf clubs shooting foxes is the norm. We need to stop them

Let's look at what happened in Enfield in its nationwide context. Golf Clubs are a common habitat for foxes, and Clubs regularly carry out kills like this one. Private 'pest control' companies make a lot of money as contractors carrying out the culls and often tell businesses that there is no other solution.

Here's a few of the fox culls carried out by golf courses in London and the southeast that have been reported in the media:

• In September 2021, Stanmore Golf Club admitted shooting foxes on its grounds. Local residents told reporters that the practice had been going on for many years.

• A local campaign in 2021 forced London's Eltham Warren Golf Club to cancel a planned cull

• In May 2020, a campaign by local residents prevented a fox cull at Muswell Hill Golf Course. The Course stated that they would no longer consider culling as an option in managing the course.

• In 2014, Dartford Golf Club was criticised by local residents for hiring a marksman to shoot foxes on its grounds.

These examples do show that public campaigning can be effective in halting fox culls. In fact, government advice is clear that fox culling is ineffective in bringing down populations, as foxes from other areas quickly replace those who have been killed, resulting in an endless cycle of suffering and killing.

Jackie from NLHS agrees, she told Protect the Wild:

"We are aware many golf clubs and schools in particular are in the habit of using inhumane methods to 'control' unwanted wildlife, another of our members is currently investigating activity at school in Hertfordshire. This has to stop. It's the 21st century and these organisations should be using companies like Humane Wildlife Solutions or Fox-A-Gon.

Surprise, surprise... Many golf clubs host hunt events too

Unsurprisingly, due to their posh clientele, golf clubs are common venues for Hunt events and fundraisers. A glance at Protect the Wild’s Blood Business database shows that the Singing Hills Golf Club in West Sussex has been booked for the Crawley and Horsham Hunt’s April 2025 Ball. Dainton Park golf club in Devon hosted the South Devon Hunt’s Christmas Ball in 2024 and the Oake Manor Golf Club in Somerset has hosted the Taunton Vale Harriers hunt two years in a row. It doesn’t seem to bother any of these businesses that the hunts booking their services have been documented time and time again killing foxes, in blatant breach of the Hunting Act 2004.

At Protect the Wild we see the presence of foxes in urban areas and spaces like golf clubs as a sign of the natural world's resilience against the destruction of wild spaces. Foxes, badgers and other animal species should be treasured and protected, not killed as pests. We would like to congratulate the people of Enfield for calling out Enfield Golf Club's fox cull and we'd like to encourage you to get in touch if you are concerned about a planned cull in your local area.

• Support Lulubells Wildlife Rescue's change.org petition to stop the shooting of foxes and cubs across the UK.

• Donate to North London Hunt Sabs here and tip them off if you hear any news about more culling at Enfield Golf Club.

• Check out Blood Business - Protect the Wild's searchable database of businesses supporting the ‘blood business’ of hunting with dogs and/or shooting live birds or mammals (‘live targets’) – from major hotels to small stores in villages, from magazines to farmers and ‘luxury’ retailers. Don't forget to tip us off with info about companies profiting from hunting and shooting.

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