RSPB logged 200 reports of crimes against birds of prey in 2015

Charity calls for tougher legislation to prevent shooting, poisoning and trapping of birds such as peregrine falcons, red kites, buzzards and hen harriers

Friday 3 February 2017 12.41 GMT Last modified on Friday 3 February 2017 22.00 GMT

Almost 200 reports of shooting, trapping and destruction of birds of prey were received by the RSPB in 2015, the charity said.

Some 64 out of the 196 reports were confirmed, including the shooting or attempted shooting of 46 birds of prey, including 16 buzzards, 11 peregrines, three red kites, one red-footed falcon and one hen harrier, a new report from the RSPB said. 

There were also 50 reported incidents of wildlife poisoning, including confirmed cases of 15 buzzards, four red kites and three peregrine falcons falling victim to poison baits. 

Illegal persecution of birds of prey is still happening too regularly in the UK countryside, the RSPB said, and it called for tougher legislation and enforcement to allow the birds to thrive. 

The charity repeated its call for reforms to grouse shooting, including a licence system for shoots, as it blamed gamekeepers for targeting birds of prey, in particular hen harriers because they preyed on red grouse. 

Hundreds of pairs of hen harriers nest in the UK, but in England they are teetering on the brink of extinction as a breeding bird as a result of historic persecution, with just three successful breeding pairs in 2016.

But in what has become an increasingly bitter debate, the shooting industry says grouse estates spend millions of pounds a year on conservation to support wildlife, and it backs the government’s hen harrier recovery plan. 

The industry says it wants to see a well-dispersed hen harrier population which co-exists with local businesses. 

Read on 

North Yorkshire tops RSPB’s bird crime league table of shame

February 4, 2017 in News

 

North Yorkshire has the worst record for crimes against birds of prey in the country, according to a new report by the RSPB.

Of the 242 incidents reported across England in 2015, 40 were in North Yorkshire – more than any other county, the charity’s Birdcrime 2015 report found.

Birdcrime 2015 reveals that there were six confirmed incidents against raptors in North Yorkshire including a poisoned red kite, a poisoned buzzard, a shot tawny owl, a shot buzzard and a shot kestrel.

The report also highlighted an incident in November last year when news emerged that a satellite tagged hen harrier, named Rowan, was found dead with injuries consistent with being shot in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Only three pairs of hen harriers successfully bred in England in 2016, despite there being enough suitable habitat to support over 300 pairs.

Another incident featured in the report in the Richmondshire area was the discovery of a hidden cache of pesticides in Arkengarthdale which the charity claimed was being used for the poisoning of wildlife.

The cache was hidden underground in a small forestry plantation on Hurst Moor, a driven grouse moor which forms part of the East Arkengarthdale Estate.

A suspect was identified from camera footage obtained by the RSPB and North Yorkshire Police.

A gamekeeper was arrested in connction with the discovery but charges were never brought.

Despite raptor persecution being identified as one of the UK government’s top wildlife crime priorities in 2009, the persecution of birds of prey still remains an issue of serious concern with around 590 birds of prey nationally having been confirmed poisoned, shot, trapped or destroyed in the last six years, the RSPB said.

Continued 

RSPB targets tougher penalties for bird crime on farms

Farmers, landowners and gamekeepers could face tougher penalties for killing wild birds after an RSPB report found nearly 200 birds were illegally killed in just one year.

 

The charity published its Birdcrime 2015 report on Friday (3 February) which showed 196 birds of prey were illegally shot, poisoned or trapped in the countryside in 2015 – up from 187 in 2014 and 178 in 2013.

The shootings included 16 buzzards, 11 peregrines, three red kites, one red-footed falcon and one hen harrier.

Fifty reports were of wildlife poisoning and pesticide-related offences, including the poisoning of 15 buzzards, four red kites and three peregrine falcons.

In November 2015, the Stody Estate in Norfolk lost 75% of its single farm payment after its former gamekeeper was found guilty of killing 11 birds of prey (see ‘Estate sees subsidy slashed’, below).

In January 2015, an Aberdeenshire gamekeeper, George Mutch, received a four-month prison sentence for the killing of a goshawk, the illegal use of two cage traps, and the taking of a buzzard and a second goshawk.

Martin Harper, RSPB director of conservation, said: “Our uplands are deprived of some amazing wildlife because of ongoing illegal persecution and it has to stop.

“Public anger is growing stronger over the ongoing persecution of our birds of prey and the state of the uplands, and more voices are beginning to call for change.

“The status quo is not an option and we continue to call, throughout the UK, for the introduction of a robust licensing system for driven grouse shooting and an offence of vicarious liability for employers whose staff commit wildlife crime.”

In England and Wales, anyone found guilty of shooting a bird of prey without a licence licence could face up to six months in prison and/or a fine of up to £5,000 if found guilty under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

Read more