The RSPB has just issued the following press release:
RED KITE FOUND SHOT ON GROUSE MOOR IS ‘FIGHTING FOR ITS LIFE’
- The protected bird of prey was found grounded on a grouse moor in County Durham, in March 2023
- An X-ray revealed multiple pieces of shot within the bird’s body
- Durham Police and the RSPB are appealing for information
A Red Kite – a species protected by UK law – was found in Edmundbyers, County Durham in a stricken condition, peppered with shot and is currently fighting for its life in a bird hospital.
A member of the public noticed the bird at the side of a public footpath along Burnhope Burn on 17 March 2023 and reported it to the RSPB. Arriving on the scene, RSPB Investigations Officers found the Red Kite hiding in bracken, alive but unable to fly.
It was taken to a wildlife rehabilitator and looked over by a vet. An X-ray revealed the bird’s entire body was peppered with shot including pieces that had broken its wing.
All birds of prey are legally protected, making it a criminal offence to intentionally kill or injure one, punishable by an unlimited fine or jail.
Red Kites were historically persecuted in the UK but are making a comeback thanks to official reintroduction programmes in recent decades supported by Government. However these birds take a long time to spread out, and illegal killing is preventing the species expanding and gaining a foothold in areas where they were formerly found before they were driven to extinction in England around the late nineteenth century.
This incident comes in the same week when news of another Red Kite was found shot in Grantown-on-Spey, [Ed: see here] in the Scottish Highlands, also in March 2023. Sadly, it had to be euthanised due to the extent of its injuries.
This area of County Durham inside the North Pennines AONB has a history of raptor persecution. In 2021, another red kite was found dead near Edmundbyers, Co Durham having been illegally poisoned. Police-led searches in the area followed last year, however no one was prosecuted.
And in 2020, two Red Kites fitted with satellite tags unexpectedly and inexplicably vanished in the same area: one tag sent its last fix from the Derwent Gorge, the other from a grouse moor near Derwent Reservoir. Neither the birds or their tags were found, and it is believed they were illegally killed.
The link between driven grouse shooting and the illegal killing of birds of prey has been well documented. The RSPB’s latest Birdcrime report showed that 71% of all confirmed incidents of raptor persecution were in connection to gamebird shooting.
Jack Ashton-Booth, RSPB Investigations Officer, said:
“The kite is currently receiving the best care, and we understand it has been hopping up onto a perch and feeding itself. However it’s still not out of the woods. We are incredibly grateful to the diligent member of the community who noticed and reported the bird, and urge anyone else who finds a dead or injured bird of prey in suspicious circumstances to do the same. It could save a bird’s life and help us identify a raptor killer at large. We are also hugely grateful to Jean Thorpe, who is caring for the bird, as she has done so many others.
“It’s unlikely this Red Kite will have flown far from where it was shot. If you have any information about who might have done this, or know of anyone shooting birds of prey in this area, please get in touch.”
Friends of Red Kites (FoRK), a voluntary monitoring and community engagement organisation based in the North East, commented:
“We are sickened to hear that yet another Red Kite has been found on the moorlands of the North Pennines suffering from illegal persecution. Since the re-introduction of Red Kites to the North East of England in 2004, a number of birds have been found dead on or adjacent to these moorlands which are managed for grouse shooting. After nearly 20 years the population of breeding kites has barely advanced above 20 pairs. By comparison, populations of kites in other areas where they have been released, like the Chilterns, are booming. It is a sad indictment on parts of society that the people of the North East are denied seeing these beautiful birds gracing our skies more widely.”
If you have any information, contact Durham Constabulary’s Wildlife Crime Officer, PC Dave Williamson, by emailing david.williamson@durham.police.uk or calling in to Barnard Castle Police Station.
Alternatively, to share sensitive information in confidence, call the RSPB’s Raptor Crime Hotline on 0300 999 0101.
ENDS
UPDATE 12th April 2023: Shot red kite found on a Durham grouse moor is successfully re-habilitated and released back to wild (here)
Raptor Persecution UK 
Is there no end to this slaughter!
Bastards all for the sake of [Ed: rest of comment deleted as libellous]
Here we go again, will this stuff ever end? Thanks has to go to the diligent member of the public who alerted the RSPB so quickly. Fingers crossed this bird will recover and be released, but until these vandals are caught and given proper punishments, you fear it will just go on and on.
The reporting of the two latest Red Kite persecution incidents clearly demonstrates the important role that members of the public can play in tackling this problem. However, just a few seconds or metres different, either way, could have meant that both occurrences went undetected. This begs the question of how many other such incidents occur out of view or earshot.
I agree. It also makes you wonder how many hen harriers who have not been tagged have been killed around the grouse moorlands? I can only think it’s a lot more than what we’re aware of.
I live close to this spot and regularly go birdwatching there. It sickens and embarrases me to know there is someone local who thinks that persecuting kites and other raptors is acceptable or excusable. That whole area is alive with rabbits and I’m pretty sure that they form the vast bulk of local raptors diets. Impact on grouse and other game birds will be negligible. Having recently retired I’ll be spending more time up there and will be carefully noting any behaviour that looks even remotely suspicious.
That’s good to hear Jackie, that you will be around. As this case has proved, by reacting quickly this poor bird at least has a fighting chance of survival. It will be due to people such as yourself that will hopefully make a difference and begin to deter these thugs from doing this kind of thing. It will be harder for them if more people start to keep an eye open.
This moorland is in an AONB but is a wildlife disaster zone.
I and friends have found evidence of wildlife crimes in this area against badgers, stoats, deer, hare, sheep, rabbits, various species of birds including grouse chicks, foxes etc etc.
Badgers have faced major persecution in this area over the last 15 years or so with 14 setts being abandoned. Meanwhile buzzards and red kites have certainly in the past failed to breed on the local National Nature Reserve and – as you have pointed out Ruth – there have been numerous suspicious reports of raptor persecution.
The local estate – believe it or not – actually has shooting rights in part of the nearby Muggleswick Woods and Derwent Gorge National Nature Reserve. Estate gamekeepers are allowed to kill ‘vermin’ on this NNR. I have found snares, gun cartridges and pheasant feeders on the NNR – all activities permitted! Incredibly, Natural England has granted permission to restrict public access on this open access area for up to 10 days a year to allow the local estate’s clients to shoot pheasant which live on this reserve. The access restrictions apply to the public the day before a shoot as well as during the shoot in order to prevent the birds from being disturbed and make management of the shoot easier (ie to maximise kills!)
The gamekeepers are extremely active and efficient!
So please, please try to visit the moors, NNR and nearby open access areas as much as possible.
It is time to penalise xxxxx xxxxx by closing the grouse moors and suspending licenses whenever these incidents occur.
[Ed: Thanks, David. Just for clarity, there are no licences to suspend. Gamebird shooting in England (whether that be grouse, partridge or pheasant) simply does not have that level of regulation. There are closed seasons which determine when gamebirds can/can’t be shot, but that’s it]
Hi lizzybizzy. A good letter. I live a dozen miles away but visit regilarly.
An hour ago from a vantage point to the east I could see 3 patches of burning heath.
Lapwing curlew snipe are all trying to nest right now. Gamekeepers and their fiendish employers are dreadful.
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
It says a lot that the North East population of Red Kites is stagnating. I trust Durham Constabulary is going to issue an appeal and will be properly investigating this latest incident. It seems there is a stubborn rump of people with shotguns who target raptors in the area, such a shame when the goodwill of the majority in favour of the local reintroduction was so positive
As a (part time) gamekeeper and game shooter, I find this sort of ignorant/ stupid behavior abhorrent.
I hope that no- one involved in gameshooting is actually involved; if it turns out that it is someone connected to game shooting, I sincerely hope that the person(s) are drummed out and prosecuted
You can almost guarantee xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx they are supposed to be decent people they are proving to be anything but
“I hope that no- one involved in gameshooting is actually involved; ”
Whether or not that is eventually proved in this particular case, there is a very well established link between wildlife crime and the management of shooting estates.
Having played a significant part in the reintroduction process to establish Red Kites in the North East I am disappointed to learn that, like their counterparts down here in Yorkshire, they continue to be persecuted. There is little room for doubt that persecution has prevented the expansion of the Yorkshire population into potentially suitable areas, notably the Yorkshire Dales where only a small handful of breeding attempts has been recorded. A similar malaise is clearly affecting the North East birds.
At the last count we found that 44% of the reports of Yorkshire persecution victims came from members of the public who had discovered them while out walking. This demonstrates the value of keeping your eyes (and ears) open when out in the countryside. This was reflected in the North Yorkshire Police Operation Owl project where the public was invited to ‘Be our eyes and ears’.
Anyone finding a suspected persecution victim is requested to report it to either the RSPB’s Raptor Crime Hotline on 0300 999 0101 or the Police (ask for a Police crime number). Take photos and record the location either by grid reference or W3W. If possible, cover the victim and any possible poisoned baits, taking care not to touch them without PPE.
Why not enter that RSPB number on your mobile phone right now, if you have not already done so? You never know when it might come in handy.
Sickening! Especially as these birds are mainly carrion feeders. The people who [Ed: rest of comment deleted as libellous]
The fact that after nearly 20 years the population of breeding kites has barely advanced above 20 pairs in the northern Pennines suggests that the illegal persecution and killing of Red Kites in this area far exceeds the number of reported incidents.
The data suggests that this persecution must be linked to the game bird shooting in that area.
Since raptor persecution is a national wildlife crime priority then it really is time that the police were required to demonstrate a pro active response to these crimes….it’s not rocket science as to where to focus attention and just who are likely to be potential suspects.
I have to question why Police Forces which suffer persistent wildlife crime potentially linked to game bird shooting aren’t being held to account by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary as to their failure to address this issue through the publication of a robust prevention strategy.
A housing estate on which there was a drugs problem would be targeted by the police to identify the dealers, so why aren’t those moors and estates where raptor persecution incidents are occurring equally targeted to identify the criminals?
This current sorry state of affairs is just not acceptable.
The coming week is the start of the Easter holidays, a time when the public traditionally venture out into the great outdoors- so why isn’t there a national coordinated media campaign led by the police and Natural England etc to make the public aware of the wildlife crimes which are taking place in our countryside, and to ask them to be vigilant and report anything suspicious??
Years ago “lock it or loose it” posters appeared all over the countryside to remind visitors of the risk of vehicles getting broken into when parked in rural carparks and laybys- so why aren’t we seeing a similar campaign in respect of raptor persecution crimes?
The National Parks Authorities, and local authorities could even play an active role in this, by putting up posters in their car parks and visitor centres, with leaflets available at every bed and breakfast and country hotel.
I find the lack of vision and coordinated strategy to target the criminals responsible for raptor persecution beyond belief….or do those institutions which could do something lack the initiative to do something meaningful?????
On the moor near where the durham kite was shot. An hour ago I could see muirburn in 3 patches.
Defra is kaka.