Have a look at this tweet from Duncan Thomas, a regional director of the British Association for Shooting & Conservation (BASC):
Dear oh dear. And BASC had been trying soooooo hard to convince everyone it accepted the findings of the recently published hen harrier satellite tag paper that showed at least 72% of sat tagged hen harriers were presumed illegally killed on grouse moors.
In response to that scientific peer-reviewed paper BASC’s Executive Director of Conservation had even stated:
“We are grateful that this research has been carried out. Satellite tags are a tool in the fight against persecution. We have to make sure there is no place left for criminals to hide“.
This is the second time in recent weeks that Duncan Thomas has caused what should be considerable embarrassment to those at BASC’s head office – last time was when he went on the telly to claim that “there’s a tiny amount of persecution occurring” [in the Peak District National Park] despite overwhelming evidence that’s stacked up over the last two decades that shows otherwise – see here.
Does this look like an organisation committed to tackling the illegal killing of birds of prey?
Why is BASC still a member of the Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group (RPPDG)? It boycotted the last RPPDG meeting and then shortly afterwards claimed it was still “committed to constructive dialogue“.
Does referring to the scientific findings of the hen harrier and golden eagle sat tag papers as “#raptorhysterics” look like constructive dialogue to you?
How will this appalling attitude help progress the work of the RPPDG?
Raptor Persecution UK 
If that sea eagle had a sat tag there wouldn’t be a fear that it had died in the first place, it could still be tracked when it could no longer be observed locally. Thomas’s assertions aren’t just desperate in their attempt to divert attention from illegal persecution they’re incompetent re doing so, he’s underlined why sat tags help identify real as opposed to presumed disappearances. This of course won’t matter to his pals who will regurgitate any nonsense they think supports their idiotic case for denial.
Thanks for that Les. I presumed that the eagle had been sat tagged.
DT, what a moron.
DT has always had a bad attitude to raptor disappearance on grouse moors to such an extent that if a Peregrine or Hen Harrier was shot in front of him he would suspect it died of natural causes or he wouldn’t have seen it at all! BASC cannot have it both ways the top man says one thing which seems on the face of it positive and then DT says something quite different which is akin to the usual wildlife crime apologists in the other shooting organisations. Time BASC sorted out it message! I don’t think their rep on RPPDG is the terrible DT but then if his message is the real one it hardly matters who attends we can expect the usual obstructive obfuscation and denial.
Whilst I hope RPPDG is turning the corner and may do something useful I remain relatively sceptical but of course will be well pleased If I am proved wrong.
As to Duncan bloody Thomas I have always thought him to be a deeply unpleasant man with deeply flawed and unpleasant views, how anyone in the past thought he was an ideal WCO is literally beyond belief, perhaps they were from another planet. If BASC want to be taken seriously by conservationists they really ought to find somebody better ( almost anyone!).
Presumably she was fitted with a satellite tag at least 7 years ago. That seems to me like a good long time for a satellite tag to stay working. How long is the actual life of the battery, whether solar powered or not?
Just goes to show though how xxxxxxxxx that individual is and, unless the BASC come out and respond to his assertions and point out how illogical and ignorant he is being, they must be deemed to be equally bad.
Simon, it doesn’t appear to have been sat tagged at all!
Is this Glengarriff in County Cork?
If is, the have some “sad news’ on their website.
Eddie found dead
Unfortunately, we have sad news. Eddie, the young eagle that fledged from Glengarriff in 2016, was found dead on the Dingle Peninsula in June. He had been dead for about 2 or 3 months (just bone and feathers remaining) so it was not possible to establish the cause of death of two-year-old Eddie. ‘While it’s possible he died of natural causes (e.g. starvation), most such ‘natural’ eagle mortality occurs in the first year of life (typically 25%) but is much lower in subsequent years as individuals gain the experience and skills to survive in the wild’ said Dr Allan Mee (White-tailed Eagle Project Manager). ‘However, human related mortality (e.g. poisoning) can equally impact all age classes’, he went on to say.
Typos! “If so,”
It is amazing what some Googling will do for you. This story in the Irish Time is about the young eagle mentioned above.
His caused of death was not known. However, since 2007, thirteen sea eagles have been found poisoned.
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/tirish-news/eddie-the-glengarriff-eagle-found-dead-in-dingle-1.3580823
“An eagle known as “Eddie” from Glengarriff in west Cork has been found dead on the Dingle Peninsula in Co Kerry, it has been announced.
The white-tailed sea eagle, whose parents were introduced into Ireland as fledglings from Norway in 2007, was born in Glengarriff in 2016 and became the first wild sea eagle to fledge in Co. Cork in over 100 years.
After leaving his nest site on Garnish Island in late 2016, he was sighted at several locations on the north side of the Beara Peninsula which runs into Kerry during his first winter.
Clare Heardman, the conservation ranger with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) provided an update on the Glengarriff Woods Nature Reserve social media page on Sunday.
Since the Spring of 2017, there had been sightings of Eddie on the nearby Iveragh peninsula in Kerry and afterwards he had remained around Dingle Bay and the Blasket as well as Tralee and Brandon Bay.
However, he had not been seen since June.
The last sighting of him had been at Fermoyle Beach, not far from where his remains were discovered in June by a Czech forestry worker in a Coillte plantation near Cloghane in the west Kerry Gaeltacht.
Eddie’s movements were tracked by the public and the reports and photographswere “invaluable” as he was not tracked by satellite tagging, unlike several other of the white-tailed eagles, Ms Heardman said.
It was not possible at this stage to say what caused Eddie’s death.
Meanwhile, Dr Allan Mee who has managed the largely successful reintroduction project said that while it was possible Eddie died of natural causes, such as starvation, most such natural eagle mortality occurred in the first year of life.
The likelihood reduced the older they got .
“However, human-related mortality, for example poisoning, can equally impact all age classes,” Dr Mee said.
A number of the eagles in the programme, managed by the Golden Eagle Trust and the NPWS, have ranged as far as Scotland and Northern Ireland from their base in Killarney.
Around 13 have been poisoned.”
I know Duncan Thomas the man is a fool, if basc think this man is fit for the post he holds it says a lot about basc as an organisation, as Paul says almost anyone would be more suitable than him, but on the flip side I say leave him there because he will eventually bring basc down which should be fun to watch
Part of an old but illuminating article about Duncan when he was a wildlife crime police officer:-
Longridge and Ribble ValleyNews 15/03/2011.
“I am looking forward to working with the public of Longridge and outlying rural areas and also the farmers and gamekeepers who are the custodians of the countryside, “ said PC Thomas.
“The Ribble Valley has a superb record in hosting and producing a vast range of wildlife, including two deer species, 90 % of the breeding hen harrier population and ever increasing numbers of peregrine falcon and other sensitive species, all on the grass moorlands of Bowland.”
In his free time PC Thomas handles a team of gundogs, manages his own smallholding with chickens and pigs and has a keen interest in deer stalking and game shooting.