Month: May 2012

Crow traps: what you should know part 1

Without even the tiniest weeniest hint of irony, the Scottish Gamekeepers Association is complaining about ‘criminal activity in the countryside’ in reference to the recent alleged release of crows from a trap on a Scottish sporting estate.

Oh and it gets better…. according to the SGA, in response to this criminal activity Northern Constabulary has “issued an appeal for information”. Although we should point out that we’ve been unable to find any public record of this ‘appeal for information’ so we only have the SGA’s word to rely upon. But let’s assume the SGA is telling the truth…

Is this the same Northern Constabulary who apparently failed to fully investigate the suspected decapitation and shooting of a white-tailed eagle on Skye (see here) and the discovery of a poisoned red kite on the boundary of Skibo Estate (see here)?

That’s not the end of the irony either – the SGA goes on to suggest that cameras could be installed at crow traps, presumably to film any member of the public who may be inclined to interefere with the trap (which may amount to a criminal offence). Wouldn’t it be interesting to see whether that film footage would be considered as acceptable evidence in any subsequent prosecution, especially after recent film footage showing the activities of a Scottish gamekeeper using a stick to beat crows to death inside a crow trap on a Speyside sporting estate (see here), was deemed inadmissable evidence?

One rule for one but not the other? Surely not!

In light of the SGA’s recent one-sided promotion of crow traps and their encouragement to SGA members to report suspected trap interference (see here for their article) as well as the landowners’ representative body, Scottish Land and Estates, encouraging their members to do likewise (see here), we thought it only fair that we provide an alternative view on the use (and more importantly the mis-use) of crow traps on Scottish sporting estates and give the public the neccessary information about how to recognise the difference between a legal and an illegal trap, and what to do if you find an illegal one.

Watch this space…

Red kites found poisoned in Chilterns

The RSPB and Hertfordshire Police are appealing for information following the discovery of two poisoned red kites in the Chilterns.

The first bird was discovered by a member of the public in January 2012, close to a public footpath near the village of Hexton. The second bird was also found by a member of the public, hanging in a bush in March 2012 less than one mile away on the Pegsdon Hill Nature Reserve run by Bedfordshire Wildlife Trust.

Tests have apparently revealed both birds had been poisoned with a highly toxic banned pesticide, although the name of the poison has not been given. On May 2nd, a multi-agency search of the area recovered a number of samples that have been sent for analysis.

The RSPB is offering a £1,000 reward for information leading to a conviction.

It’s interesting to note that neither of these poisoned kites were mentioned in the national press at the time they were discovered, nor is there an explanation for why it took four months from the first discovery for a search to be conducted. There is no mention of this investigation on the Hertfordshire Police website – the only publicity appears to be on the RSPB website. Whilst the investigation and (rather late) publicity is to be welcomed, the chances of anybody being charged for these offences now seem pretty slim.

RSPB news release here

More delay in case against Inverness man accused of buying/selling raptor eggs

The long-running case against Keith Liddell, first reported on this blog in July 2011 (see here) has been continued at Inverness Sheriff Court, again.

Liddell is alleged to have bought or offered for sale 202 eggs, including those of Egyptian vultures (a listed endangered species) and tawny owls. He is further accused of having 136 wild birds’ eggs in his possession. These charges, which Liddell has denied, relate to alleged offences between 2004 – 2009. The case has dragged on and on and on with numerous hearings in November and December 2011, and in February and May 2012. The next hearing will be in June 2012.

Outrage at (more) Peak District bird of prey persecution

The RSPB and Severn Trent Water have today expressed their outrage at the ‘wanton destruction’ over the last few days of the nest of one of Britain’s most persecuted raptors. Goshawk eggs, only days from hatching, were found smashed underneath a nest in the Upper Derwent Valley on land managed by Severn Trent Water.

It is the latest in a long line of raptor persecution incidents in the Peak District (see here for a 2006 RSPB report aptly named Peak Malpractice, and here for a 2007 updated report). The last reported incident was the case of gamekeeper Glenn Brown, who was convicted last year after RSPB investigators filmed him using a caged pigeon to lure raptors into a trap on National Trust-owned Howden Moor (see here). This latest incident demonstrates just how ineffective Brown’s sentence was (100 hours community service ‘ain’t gonna deter anybody – sure, he also had to pay costs but do you really think he’ll be paying those from his own pocket?). That this latest attack has happened at all should come as no surprise to anybody.

The RSPB says this now leaves only one known active goshawk nest in the entire Derwent Valley, which previously had held six pairs. The RSPB is offering a £1,000 reward for information leading to a conviction.

RSPB press release here

Another poisoned raptor, another well-kept secret?

Last week we blogged about Des Thompson’s presentation at the Scottish Wildlife Crime Conference (see here). Here’s a reminder of what he had to say about Northern Constabulary and the problem of red kite persecution in northern Scotland:

“So 40% of the dead, just over 100 red kites were poisoned in north of Scotland, without poisoning we should have had 300 plus birds, poisoning of red kites in the north of Scotland is attracting a lot of criticism nationally, and we now know the location of the hotspots problem areas where red kites have been found, poisoned, and we’re working closely with the police to tackle this. And I want to put on record here how grateful we are to Northern Constabulary, er, senior staff at Northern Constabulary for meeting with us to discuss the scientific issues and for taking forward the very ambitious programme of work to tackle this problem“.

So what is this “very ambitious programme of work” and why is it that Northern Constabulary appear to need persuasion to carry out what is its statutory duty to investigate wildlife crime?

If you look at the Force’s website you’ll see that they have 13 police Wildlife Crime Officers (see here) who are overseen by a Force Wildlife Crime Coordinator, Chief Inspector Matthew Reiss. The website also includes a ‘statement of intent’ in relation to tackling wildlife crime and the Force says it is committed to tackling wildlife crime (see here). Further, Chief Inspector Reiss is on record (according to Highland News) as saying Northern Constabulary treats wildlife crime “extremely seriously” (reported here after the convictions of Skibo Estate and Moy Estate employees for wildlife crime offences).

All sounds very convincing and reassuring, doesn’t it? Why is it then that Northern Constabulary has remained tight-lipped about the discovery, 15 months ago, of a poisoned red kite allegedly found on moorland at the boundary of Skibo Estate? We have been told that the satellite-tagged kite was allegedly found in February 2011. SASA documents show that only one red kite from the Highland region was tested in February 2011  and  it had been poisoned by Alphachloralose and was the subject of on ongoing police investigation (SASA ref #11020, see here).

Was there any publicity about this bird? We think we might have remembered if there had been, but we checked back to Northern Constabulary’s archived news items on their website for the month of February 2011 in case we’d missed it – but no, plenty on there about theft of handbags and damage to tractors but not a whisper about the discovery of a poisoned red kite.

Was there a police raid on the surrounding properties where this bird was allegedly found poisoned? If it was found at this location, and given that this is one of the supposed ‘hotspot’ areas for raptor poisoning (three golden eagles and a sparrowhawk found poisoned in 2010 – no convictions; a staked-out poison-laced grouse bait found in 2010 – no convictions) wouldn’t a police raid be the obvious first step in an investigation?

So is that it? No further action? If we hadn’t received a tip-off would it ever have come to light? Where was the RSPB in all of this? Did they know that one of their satellite-tagged kites had allegedly been found poisoned? If they did, why wasn’t the incident publicised? Where was SNH and PAW Scotland in all of this? Did they know that one of the satellite-tagged kites that they’d helped fund had allegedly been found poisoned? Where was their publicity? Where was the NWCU in all of this? Were they notified? Was this alleged incident the trigger for setting up the meeting with senior staff at Northern Constabulary to discuss the red kite persecution ‘science’?

This is the second time in the last few weeks that Northern Constabulary has been at the centre of allegations of secrecy and cover-up when it comes to wildlife crime (see here for earlier report on the suspected shooting and decapitation of a white-tailed eagle on Skye that went unpublicised). How many more incidents are there left to be uncovered? To be fair, Northern Constabulary does sometimes get it right, with current ongoing court cases including the alleged hare snaring at Lochindorb (here) and alleged egg theft (here), but ‘sometimes’ just isn’t good enough. Nobody’s suggesting these investigations are easy – we’ve all seen how difficult it can be to get COPFS to agree to a prosecution – but Northern Constabulary (and others) don’t help themselves when they choose not to publicise, or sometimes even investigate these alleged crimes.

How about everyone stops all the politically-motivated soundbites about commitment and very ambitious work programmes and just focuses on getting the basics right?

sea eagles breed in Ireland after 100 year absence

Some excellent news! The Golden Eagle Trust, a non-profit group behind the recent reintroductions of golden eagles, white-tailed sea eagles and red kites in the Irish Republic has announced the first pair of breeding sea eagles in Ireland since they were persecuted to extinction over 100 years ago.

Many, many congratulations to everyone involved!

Golden Eagle Trust press release here