A dead peregrine has been found outside the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust’s HQ – an x-ray revealed it had been shot.
A £1,000 reward has been put up by the RSPB for information that leads to a conviction.
Tim Birch, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust’s Head of Advocacy and Conservation said: “We have all been shocked at the Trust by the shooting of the male peregrine at our headquarters in Belper. To have a wildlife crime happening right on our doorstep is both alarming and upsetting. Many people from Belper, and indeed from around the whole region, have been thrilled to watch peregrines around the mill where we work. We feel very privileged to have these birds living alongside us. We strongly condemn the shooting of this bird“.
Press statement from Derbyshire Wildlife Trust here
Article in Derby Telegraph here.
This is the second known peregrine to have been illegally killed this year. Just ten days ago we blogged about the discovery of a poisoned peregrine found dead in January on a Scottish sporting estate (here).
According to the RSPB, there have been at least 54 confirmed illegally persecuted peregrines in the UK in the past six years. We eagerly await the results of last year’s National Peregrine Survey to see how persecution is affecting this species at the population level.
Raptor Persecution UK 
I’m sure there have been a lot more illegally killed, ones that have been hidden or disposed of elsewhere. We do need eyes in the field with the breeding season nearly upon us, but until the sentencing is a lot harsher, there will be many more. The law really does need to change, it needs to change to reflect the seriousness of these crimes. We need a change in Government, a party who will punish these criminals, the Torys are about as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike. Our wildlife doesn’t belong to anyone it is not ours to kill, it is there to behold, enjoy and is there for a purpose. The natural world created predator and prey and when people start affecting the balance of nature we are doomed.
Dumped on the Wildlife HQ doorstep, well if that isn’t a deliberate insult then I don’t know what is. I know the farmers and gamies hate being described as a mafia, but all this is missing is a some squealing tires as it was dumped, and a spray of the old tommy gun. It is a message though, they intend to go on killing as much as possible, and to do it as an act of spite too.
Strange recently to the delight of bird watchers a little bustard turned up in Norfolk. Didn’t last long it was found shot dead right next to a rural road which was a bizarre place for it to be. Not said out loud by anyone, but was someone trying to give two fingers to bird lovers?
54 confirmed, hundreds missed!! Just look at the empty nest sites around the Red Grouse moors with young birds turning up every year and then removed.