Hen harrier chicks to be reared in captivity to placate grouse moor owners

‘Brood management’ trial criticised for failing to tackle persecution of bird of prey

Patrick Barkham

Thu 6 Jun 2019 11.30 BSTLast modified on Thu 6 Jun 2019 13.46 BST

Hen harrier chicks will be removed from their parents and reared in captivity this summer in a controversial “brood management” scheme to placate grouse moor owners.

Removing young hen harriers from nests on grouse moors is designed to prevent concentrations of the bird of prey on grouse shooting estates. Stopping hen harriers from feeding on young grouse is designed to reduce the illegal killing of the species, which is on the brink of extinction as a breeding bird in England.

Last summer was the bird’s most successful breeding season for more than a decade with 34 chicks fledged from nine nests across northern England.

Natural England, the government’s conservation watchdog, announced its brood management scheme would begin this summer with “active” hen harrier nests meeting the criteria for chick removal and landowners willing to be part of the trial.

The chicks would be raised in captivity and then released into suitable habitat away from grouse moors. The hen harrier tends to nest in clusters and proponents of the scheme argued that brood management provided reassurance to grouse moor owners that concentrations of hen harriers would not build up on their moors, predating grouse populations. This, it has been argued, would stop gamekeepers and others illegally killing the bird.

Tony Juniper, the chair of Natural England, said: “Conservation and protection of the hen harrier is at the heart of what we are doing in licensing this trial of brood management. This decision takes forward but one element in a far broader recovery strategy for the species.

“Natural England is ready to take the next careful step, aware that the licensed activity and the research will rightly come under close scrutiny from the scientists on the advisory group, from ourselves as the licensing authority and by those both supportive of and opposed to this trial.

“We, as an organisation, must pursue all options for an important bird such as the hen harrier, so that our children may enjoy this majestic species in the wild.”

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Legal challenge to Hen Harrier 'brood management' plan fails

15/03/2019

A judicial review into Natural England's controversial 'brood management' plan, which involves issuing licences for Hen Harriers to be taken from their broods, raised in captivity and then released back into the wild at specific locations, has failed.

The review, which was brought about by leading conservationist and Birdwatch columnist Dr Mark Avery, along with the RSPB, took place on 15 March, with Mrs Justice Laing ruling Natural England's plans to be lawful on the grounds that the licenses were being issues for research purposes, and not yet for conservation purposes, thus they could go ahead.

Brood management involves removing Hen Harrier broods from driven grouse moors once breeding numbers have reached a certain level, due to concerns that they have a significant impact on the number of Red Grouse available for shooting. However, the RSPB believes the first step in Hen Harrier recovery should be the cessation of illegal persecution, which is widely acknowledged as the main reason driving the decline of the iconic bird of prey.

Dr Avery commented on his blog: "It's disappointing to lose but I'd like to thank all my supporters and my legal team for mounting this challenge and the RSPB for taking their challenge alongside mine. It needed to be done, it certainly wasn't frivolous (otherwise we would not have been given permission to proceed with the judicial review) and it may not be over yet."

Martin Harper of the RSPB added: "This is obviously a huge blow but we will continue to fight for the future of Hen Harriers. The plight of this threatened species is a stark reminder of so much that is wrong with the way we manage our uplands. It is only through standing up for what is right that we can help recover the wildlife that we all cherish."

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Hen harrier 'brood management' plan faces crowdfunded legal challenge

Campaign against plan to remove chicks from their nests and rear them in captivity raises £25,000 in four days

Patrick Barkham

Mon 16 Apr 2018 06.01 BST

A controversial plan to remove the chicks of endangered birds from their nests and rear them in captivity could be challenged in the high court after a crowdfunded campaign raised £25,000 in four days.

Wildlife campaigner and author Mark Avery is leading an application for a judicial review of the hen harrier “brood management” plan, in which chicks will be raised in captivity and released into the wild.

Conservationists blame the grouse moor industry for the virtual absence of hen harriers from uplands in England – there were four nests in 2016 – which government scientists calculated would naturally support more than 300 pairs of the bird.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs plan, which is licensed by Natural England, the government’s wildlife watchdog, is designed to stop the illegal persecution of the legally protected bird of prey but critics say it instead rewards the owners of grouse moors. Removing the chicks from moorland prevents the parent birds from predating so many of the red grouse which generate a lucrative grouse-shooting business.

“It’s difficult to see how hen harriers benefit from this plan,” said Avery. “They are taken into captivity and released back into the places from which they are taken, where they will be killed in the way that they would have been if they hadn’t been taken into captivity.

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