The death toll in the mass poisoning at Conon Bridge, Ross-shire, has risen to 22, according to a Scottish journalist (more on that source in a later post this evening).
The current body count is 16 red kites and 6 buzzards.
So far, the police have only confirmed that 12 of the dead were poisoned. Tests apparently continue on the other ten.
The police have not yet revealed the identity of the poison(s) used, leading to some bizarre speculation such as a ‘mystery virus’, ‘contaminated meat’ and ‘accidental agricultural spillage’. We look forward to them putting an end to this speculation and revealing the name of the poison(s) that we believe will confirm that these deaths were a result of deliberate poisoning.
We also look forward to learning more about the status of the police investigation, five weeks after it began.
Previous blogs on the Ross-shire Massacre here.
Raptor Persecution UK 
What a sad end to such magnificent birds. It certainly is a mystery why this investigation appears to be going nowhere. If the authorities can’t crack this case with so many victims in a relatively small area, plus the substantial reward on offer, then there really is not much hope for our magnificent wildlife.
My thoughts too Chris. Landowners must have seen something at least
I don’t think there’s a mystery at all… These birds are being killed by the establishment plain and simple.. The police commissioners, politicians and judges are sucking up and completely controlled by the establishment.. Even Mr Woodhouse will go only so far.. Why do you think these gamekeepers are always getting away with it? The establishment is complicit in murdering these birds and it is the establishment (and hunting estates) who should be held to account.. These gamekeeper are doing their bidding… What’s the point in going after the monkey and allowing the true culprits to get away with it?
If it was conspiracy to commit murder of a human being they would be in prison… The evidence is overwhelming…
I fail to understand why this investigation is moving so slowly and why the poison is not being named, of course these people will all stick together and cover each other’s backs. This is a sad and sorry business and needs to come to a speedy conclusion, end result a hefty prison sentence for the culprits.
I sympathise with your sentiments, Chrissie.
However :-
“I fail to understand why this investigation is moving so slowly” …………. Always the case.
“why the poison is not being named” …………… Possibly a logical reason for that, but the poisoner
knows so revealing it would not give him any advantage.
“needs to come to a speedy conclusion” ………….. Yes, but will not happen.
” end result a hefty prison sentence for the culprits” ………….. Yes, but will not happen.
Sad state of affairs with the usual rotten smell in the background.
The longer this investigation goes on the more the general public forget about it, this seems to be the norm with wildlife crime, officers seemingly getting well paid for doing a specific job give off the impression from reports by others they are just sitting back and doing nothing
Please understand, in this instance there are no large estates involved, the area is farmland and private properties. It is unfair to blame establishments when you don’t know the facts of the case.
SCOTLAND MAY WANT TO RID ITSELF OF BAD PRACTIcE BEFORE GOING FOR INDEPENDENCE!