In the first few days of the New Year, three buzzards have been shot in separate incidents in Somerset.
Two are being treated at an RSPCA wildlife hospital but the third didn’t make it. Two men were seen shooting at this third buzzard near Chedzoy on New Year’s Day.
And this is an area where DEFRA/Natural England are planning to reintroduce hen harriers because persecution levels are considered low. Three shot birds in four days suggests otherwise.
UPDATE 17.30hrs here
Raptor Persecution UK 
New Year, nothing changes! I’m wishing that this will be the year when RSPB wakens up to its responsibilities as Europe’s largest wildlife conservation organisation, and treats raptor persecution far more seriously. Where would we be without RPUK, not to mention all the brave individuals, wildlife hospitals and others doing their bit?
Whilst I think RSPB are more awake to this than you think Iain they are course are not the statutory body they are a charity. The statutory bodies are Natural England and the Police, mm probably better relying on RSPB.
Perhaps it is time we not only banned driven grouse shooting but also the mass release of those living targets Pheasants and Red-legged Partridges. I have never objected to a little shooting for the pot but recently I find on a Saturday it is almost impossible to enjoy the countryside without be within the sound of shotguns going off.
Nothing changes indeed – as soon as we hear of another raptor killing, some people immediately criticise the one organisation that’s done more than many to tackle the issue – the RSPB! Why not point out that the Hawk & Owl Trust has probably made the situation worse, by lending its support to the idea that it’s OK to remove birds of prey to protect game birds? If it’s OK to remove hen harriers, why’s it not OK to remove the far more abundant buzzards, kites, peregrines, etc etc….
part of the problem is that Natural England, and this DEFRA, have handed out licences to kill buzzards and to these kind of men that gives them the green light.
Natural England have been pretty much taken over by the NFU and CA. All they do now is pander to the farming, hunting and shooting lobby and as such have become pointless and should be disbanded. A new and independent body with the balls and legal framework to act accordingly should be set up in its place.
This country is still pretty much an oligarchy. The large land owners do what they please (or instruct their staff) with the land and wildlife they own safe in the knowledge that the chances of legal ramifications are pretty small (with no vicarious liability in England) and the diversity of our species is suffering hugely. Soon the only thing you’ll see in the countryside will be game birds and anything that doesn’t compete with them in any small or imagined way.
It’s time to take back our natural heritage.
Completely agree with you AA….not only do these people think they are above the law, but it seems that they actually are. Even where there is vicarious liability they circumvent it by throwing their wealth at top barristers….We all need to stop being so ‘English’ and screaming about this travesty from the flippin rooftops !
Natural England has been emasculated ever since Deafra was taken over by Tory ministers with a shootin’, huntin’ agenda and their noses in the NFU/CA trough. Cuts forced on Departments by Osborne were, in Deafra’s case, applied to the Environmental aspects of responsibility. Nothing will change while the current mob are in charge.
Isn’t Somerset one of the hen harrier ” reintroduced ” counties? I do hope there are no donor nations for this pathetic proposal, which is nothing more than a red herring to try & divert attention from the real problem of direct persecution on grouse moors.
And isn’t it also where someone shot a crane a few months back? No doubt the crane shooting will be classed as ‘human-wildlife conflict’ by the HoT shots just like buzzard and harrier shooting is.
And so it continues and why not with so little resistance from those bodies which are elected to protect.
I have raised this subject on numerous occasions without reply, so once more with feeling…….does anyone know if there has been research into the impact of circa 35m-40m gamebird annual introduction into the environment? Surely an excellent thesis subject?
As the LACS clearly states–they kill a bird to protect a bird which they then shoot.
Yes we need one, how much land is farmed intensively for feed for gamebirds – which will mostly not be eaten by people, are pheasants depleting reptile populations, do they harass other ground nesting birds, does all that animal protein made available in autumn boost fox populations to an unnatural level? It goes on and on yet not a squeak about a comprehensive and objective study.
Foxes are exterminated by Gamekeepers along with any other potential native predator.
I know – if there is indeed any unnatural level of predation it’s down to the shooting fraternity so rather than shooting foxes, they should stop shooting partridge and pheasant raised artificially (and preferably end to all recreational shooting)
And….. when are the estates / shoots going to be made liable for damage that the excessive numbers cause to both vehicles and property ??
The remarkable dual nature of pheasants ( from ‘livestock’ to ‘wild’ ) has to stop.
yeah and it gets even worse as I never tire of repeating because I think you can’t say this enough – the ludicrously excessive number of deer the stalking estates want means increased number of serious and FATAL (for people as well as deer) collisions on the road. An utter, utter effin disgrace. They need hauling over hot coals.
I just wish the photo was of the perpetrator and not the persecuted.
Any of you people wondered why the BBC doesn’t cover any of this story? Don’t forget, knowledge is power.
If you want BBC level publicity then retweet these articles during Saturday and Sunday evenings with the #Countryfile hashtag or tag in any other BBC shows like Planet Earth or Winter/Spring/Autumnwatch whenever they are airing. It is the only way to reach the BBC audience.
Mike, local BBC news did cover part of this story (relating to two of the buzzards).
The people who own these estates do what they like because they think they own the countryside and the people who live there. In many cases they probably do and still think we live in the middle ages, so until we take the land of them this cruelty will continue.
So where does Raptor Persecutions….’And this is an area where DEFRA/Natural England are planning to reintroduce hen harriers because persecution levels are considered low. Three shot birds in four days suggests otherwise’….stand now then?