CONSERVATIONISTS battling to
protect Scotland’s birds of prey are in an “arms race” with criminals, it has
been claimed.
PUBLISHED: 20:16, Fri, May
18, 2018 | UPDATED: 20:29, Fri, May 18, 2018
Ian Thomson, head of
investigations at RSPB Scotland, made the claim after a series of
satellite-tagged birds of prey including golden eagles and sea eagles
disappeared in suspicious circumstances.
He said satellite transmitters
had led to a “massive reduction” in illegal poisoning cases in recent years as
those targeting raptors know that if a tagged bird stops moving, somebody will
look for it, increasing the chances of its killer being caught.
But while tagging technology was
improving, it had also brought about a change in tactics as those who would
persecute protected species tried to stay a step ahead, he warned.
Mr Thomson said: “The technology
is changing all the time. A few years ago these GPS satellite tags could only
be fitted to big birds like eagles or cranes or storks and things like that and
now we are fitting them to smaller birds of prey like hen harriers.
We know from the disappearance of
satellite-tagged birds that these birds are being literally shot off their
perches
“But at the same time we have to recognise
that in some perverse way we are almost in a strange arms race because those
who are killing birds of prey, rather than chucking out half a rabbit laced
with carbofuran, now they are wandering about at 2am with thermal imaging gear.
“We know from the disappearance
of satellite-tagged birds that these birds are being literally shot off their
perches in the middle of the night. And that’s difficult to combat and they
know that.
"We’ve caught people on
camera committing wildlife crimes. A solution to that is they all go out
wearing balaclavas.”
No comments:
Post a Comment