The Partnership for Action against Wildlife Crime Northern Ireland (PAW NI) has today published its latest report on bird of prey persecution 2015-2016.
The report reveals that there were five confirmed illegal persecution incidents reported in 2015 and a further six in 2016, involving the killing of 12 protected birds of prey in Northern Ireland (6 x buzzards, 5 x peregrines, 1 x sparrowhawk). As with every other annual raptor persecution report these figures are probably just the tip of the iceberg.
The report’s lead author, Dr Eimear Rooney (Raptor Officer for the Northern Ireland Raptor Study Group) commented: “This latest persecution report helps us all to understand the scale and distribution of the problem. It is particularly shocking to see new areas appear on the hot-spot maps, showing the issue of raptor persecution to be widespread. It is heart-breaking to think of the deaths of these protected birds but it is particularly shocking to see the continued usage of highly toxic Carbofuran. The PAW NI group will continue to take action to tackle raptor persecution and it is encouraging to see all the partners proactively working together on this report.”
Hotspot map of confirmed incidents of raptor persecution, and poisoned baits & wildlife, reported in Northern Ireland from January 2009-December 2016.
Download the PAW NI report here
Read the PAW NI press release here
On the subject of illegal raptor persecution in Northern Ireland, a 13-year old boy named Dara MacAnulty is doing a 45km sponsored trek in January 2018 to help raise funds for a new raptor satellite-tagging project in Northern Ireland.
Dara is a pretty special young man, passionate about the environment, especially raptors, and he has an exceptional talent for expressing his thoughts – have a read of his blog and you’ll be constantly questioning how a thirteen year old can possibly write so well!
Dara’s fundraising project is off to a good start but he needs more support. If you’ve got a few quid to spare, please consider supporting his efforts HERE. Thanks.
Raptor Persecution UK 
[Ed: comment deleted. Please do not post racist comments on this blog]
Wherever there are game shooting interests & / or pigeon fanciers you will find raptor persecution in these islands.
Inform, educate, expose, pressurise & prosecute not only those responsible for the criminality but also those in power.
The current political situation is, as ever, pertinent.
It would be illuminating to publish [ or provide sources ] more widely, for the NI [ & Republic ] data on ranges, population trends, absence etc. of the most vulnerable species e.g. Peregrine, Kite, Buzzard, Gos, Harrier [s], and Eagle[s].
We are a very small group of islands with a continuing disproportionately large prevalence of raptor crime.
Keep up the pressure !
The J03 square is more or less adjacent to a very well known driven shoot in an area with a long history of this type of crime