Yesterday this blog passed its 11-year anniversary.
Is it still attracting readers? Yep, it seems to be, looking at these blog viewing stats.
As ever, huge thanks to those who help fund my time, those who work with me behind the scenes (you know who you are), to those who send me information, to those who take the time to comment here, and especially to those who share blog posts on social media channels – raising awareness of the illegal killing of birds of prey was the main driver behind setting up this blog and it continues to be one of its main objectives.
Thanks for your support.
Raptor Persecution UK 
Ruth, Your blog is influencing lots of people and I’m sure it is mostly positive.
Thanks for your hard work and persistence.
Doug
Congratulations. Your critics must be worried about what’ll happen in two years time when you enter the terrible teens!
Crikey. The grouse moor owners will not be pleased to see those figures.
I had no idea that killing of raptors on grouse moors was such a serious and difficult to solve problem until I signed up to RPUK.
Congratulations to you Ruth for all your hard work and refusal to give up in the face of such prejudice, lies and massive vested interests.
I absolutely cannot thank you enough for all that you have done over those last 11 years.
Congratulations Ruth and your dedicated team.
The work you do sends reverberations around the UK’s Raptor killing fields.
Here’s to the next 11 – Cheers
Its a great blog. Thanks for your hard work.
Fantastic dedicated work Ruth. Your application to detailing these crimes is quite remarkable. Your resilience to the hateful comments you receive from the shooting lobby is heroic. Hopefully another 11 years will not be needed as the job will be done? The blog is a beacon of hope for all people who love raptors and all things wild.
Congratulations, Ruth, on reaching your 11th Anniversary of the blog. Of course, we would all hope that your work will not be needed in the near future, as raptor persecution becomes a thing of the past. We are winning the arguments, albeit slower than any of us would like. If we keep pushing that boulder up the hill it will eventually reach the top and rush down the other side to sweep away those who don’t respect our wildlife with it.
Wonderful achievement Ruth, many congratulations. Almost as many views as pheasants and red-legs released each year!
This website is undoubtedly an authoritative, powerful force standing against the dismal organised criminals who inhabit some sections of the shooting community. It need have not been here for 11 years, had the criminals not had support within UK governments, some police forces, some in the Scottish Crown Office, and some in the “establishment.” Let us hope that it will not be much longer before the force of public opinion, as helped by this blog, forces real change.
We owe you a great debt of gratitude.
Great stuff Ruth
What will it take for you to hang yer boots up……?
Great Stuff, Raptor Persecution UK. I’ve learnt so much from your post and single handedly placed the issue of carnage on our grouse moors high on the activists agenda — and rightly so. The abuse and criticism you and your team have endured over the years has allowed others outwith this dismal industry see the mindset which revels in the deaths of innocent creatures for nothing more than personal satisfaction. You have shrank from nothing and taken every eventuality in your stride. May your astounding successes continue.
Thanks so much.
Well done Ruth. For far too long too many of us ground on not quite sure what to do about the horrific raptor persecution on the estates and how to get rid of it once and for all, a burning shame for anyone interested in conservation in this country. RPUK gave us information, passion instead of frustration, a voice and also a bloody big stick to batter the opposition with at long last. Fingers crossed it won’t take another 11 years till the grouse moors at least are finished. Happy Birthday!!!!
Thank you so much for what you all do !! – you are making the difference
Well done Ruth, Raptor Persecution is the first web site I go to when I switch on computer. Thanks so much for all your hard work.
Here’s to the next 11 years, let’s hope we will see a lot of change in that time .
Congrats 👏
WOW, now this is ace news. Something worthy of celebrating with …..oooh….I dunno….a Jetboil cuppa and a bag of chips eaten out of the paper while sitting in glorious countryside looking for raptors. (Other fast boil systems are available).
Top job. From a top professional. Keep on doing what you’re doing. It’s working.
And, can I just say the previous comments are really lovely to read too.
Thank you, everybody, for your kind comments.
Hopefully I won’t still be writing this blog for another 11 years but for as long as I am, it’s bloody great to have such strong support.
Thank you, it’s much appreciated.
We’ll be at you side has long as it takes. ACW.
Probably the best conservation blog there is – You need to groom a successor (I’m serious), we need this publicity and pressure to continue for another 111 years! If the human race lasts that long.
Congratulations on bringing the truth to the people, Ruth. Let’s hope that in another 11 years, decency will have prevailed, and RPUK is no longer necessary.
I am only sorry that it took me to year 10 to discover your fantastic blog. Always hugely informative and a wealth of undeniable evidence (should the powers that be be willing to open their eyes….) Keep up the great work – I love every post as it lifts the lid on the boil that so desperately needs lancing! Thank you!
Thanks to your shining light, the crimes that have been hidden from the public eye are now illuminated. People dont like what they see and they are looking for change. Change is coming…keep the lights on!
Thanks.
Exceptional dedication. ACW.
The blog viewing stats indicate a magnificent success in expanding public interest in raptors.
This, of course, produces a resounding dividend in the form of exposing the magnitude of wildlife crime and the failure of Holyrood and Westminster to address the problem.
I have just been looking at the viewing figures for the Loch Arkaig osprey cam last year (a source of fascinating viewing for me). Approximately 400,000 people clicked into that one camera. That is amazing.
There is the potential for an immense audience who would follow the welfare of our raptors. Making an enlarged audience aware and knowledgeable about the hideous actions of the criminals could well generate a tide of wrath that would hurt the wrongdoers and twist the tails of those in government.
I assume you already know about this. “https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-56197149”
Thanks Andy, I did not know.
Happy Birthday …. & congratulations on the series of successes that you’ve delivered, your tenacity and dedication is truly inspirational, massive thank you for all your endeavours. Particularly valuable is the painstakingly undertaken research that underpins any campaign angle, that robust evidence base must be a serious worry for those still engaging in illegal activity to facilitate their blood-lust. Take care and stay safe.
Well done and heartfelt thanks to RPUK for your brilliant and important work. This blog will become even more crucial if and when Mark Avery steps back from his.
Please keep up the good work, and don’t let the ba****ds grind you down!
You’re a hero, Ruth. To have endured so much for so long in support of our beleagured wildlife – and with fearless honesty and clarity too – has been a real inspiration to late-comers to the party such as myself. You and one or two high-profile others have made all the difference between my former benign but uncommitted interest and my current awareness and engagement to the cause. May your message only continue to reach out into the population as the numbers of those against us stays more or less the same. Change is coming. Thank you.
I wish you hadn’t have to be here for 11 years, but well done on all the hard and soft campaigning you’ve done. Hopefully we are beginning to see a climate of change in respect of this.
Congratulations and many thanks. The only way we’ll ever get anything done is by bringing these atrocities to public attention and demonstrating that people care. Your work in doing this is appreciated and very necessary.
RPUK provides an additional and fundamental dimension to the ceaseless battle against wildlife crime. It is extremely frustrating that those powers that be who have responsibility for overseeing and enforcing the law appear to remain wilfully blind to the atrocities committed in the furtherance of so-called sporting activities. No doubt vested interests are a significant factor here. RPUK does a splendid job in keeping the issues in full view and there is simply no excuse for the root cause of these problems not being properly addressed. Very well done Ruth and Co!
I see the common (or what was the not-so-common) buzzard a few times a year. The spread of the kite has yet to tickle my senses.
As lockdown v1 decended my immediate thought was that law-abiding people would find themselves restricted. Those who care less about laws became more enabled and emboldened. I am sorry to report that my immediate thoughts were vindicated. It appeared to me that the local police wildlife and rural crime team were more interested in making sure the law-abiding people away from the countrycide adhered strictly to guidance. Keep the clueless townies indoors.
Thanks for shining a light in the dark corners that I was unaware of until a few years ago. Your blog has educated my friends and family. Continue to lead the attack on the destruction perpetrated on our native wildlife and the environment by the criminals involved in the game shooting industry. I am certain we will win and this blog is leading the way.
After our first run of court successes, in the early 1990s [thats 30 years ago!]..I was beginning to think we were going to see an end to raptor persecution in Scotland. Ah, the confidence of youth. What gets missed by most is that we are not just fighting a handful of particularly unpleasant criminals, we are fighting an entire enmeshed system of tradition, privilege, entitlement supported by embittered wannabe shooters, trainee and semi-pro vermin controllers and others with their fantasies of “the good old days” when you could kill what you wanted and everyone tugged a forelock at the laird and his servants, the keeper and the estate factor. [including the local police, the local lairds actually built the old country police stations in several areas!]…I would add to the big pat on the back that everyone is giving Ruth and everyone involved with this site, its excellent…but dont fool yourselves, theres still a very long way to go..the answers lie in fearless and non partisan enforcement but also in large scale land reform and social reform in the countryside.