As many of you will know, Natural England has been planning a so-called ‘reintroduction’ of hen harriers to southern England since 2016, as part of DEFRA’s ludicrous Hen Harrier Action Plan.
I’ve been blogging about this unhinged proposal for years and in my view it should more accurately be called the ‘Let’s divert attention from illegal persecution on driven grouse moors’ project. Hen harriers don’t need to be ‘reintroduced’ or translocated to southern England – if the illegal killing on driven grouse moors stopped, England’s hen harrier population would quickly reclaim old haunts all by itself, without costing tax payers millions of pounds that could otherwise be used to help enforce the law on the grouse moors.
It could be argued that any increase in the English hen harrier breeding population should be welcomed – it’s in a perilous state and has been for years, thanks to the criminals on the northern grouse moors – but a big concern is that any artificial increase will be heralded as a ‘conservation success story’ for this species by the grouse shooting industry, who will then argue that there’s no need to put resources into tackling the continued illegal killing on northern grouse moors, nor licence/ban driven grouse shooting because hen harriers are doing ‘ok’ in the south.
Although I also doubt very much that the harriers will be left alone in the south – persecution is rife on lowland pheasant and partridge shoots, as a cursory glance of this blog will demonstrate, including on a shoot very close to the proposed release site in Wiltshire where a gamekeeper was recently convicted for chucking dead raptors down a well where he thought his crimes would never be discovered (see here).
However, despite concerns, Natural England is pressing ahead and is now recruiting for a ‘Wildlife Lead Advisor’ to project manage the release of young, captive-bred hen harriers.
It’s advertised as a permanent, full-time position with a starting salary of £27,273. Here’s the job description from the civil service jobs website:
The lead adviser role is predominantly field based, facilitating the translocation through proactive community and public engagement, ongoing biological monitoring, management of release facilities, and hen harrier husbandry.
As lead adviser you will:
- Develop and maintain relationships with local land managers and other key stakeholders
- Deliver stakeholder and public engagement through illustrated talks, guided walks and events in liaison with Defra Communications and NE Area Team colleagues
- Attend relevant meetings with partners, stakeholders and NE teams
- Support NE volunteers involved in hen harrier conservation
- Undertake daily husbandry, monitoring and recording of hen harriers pre-release
- Undertake maintenance of the hen harrier release field
- Conduct post-release satellite tracking monitoring and protection of hen harriers, including basic care of recovered individuals
- Oversee and undertake small mammal and bird surveys on site and on Salisbury Plain SSSI
- Work closely with partners on the captive breeding programme
Additional Information
- Training will be provided where required, for example hen harrier welfare and husbandry, biological monitoring or practical tickets
- It is essential that you live within a daily, commutable distance to the site.
- We try to accommodate flexible working patterns but please note that the suggested minimum working hours are 30 hours a week due to the nature of the role and workload.
- Duties will involve working outdoors, which can be physically demanding, and sometimes during inclement weather conditions.
- A current full driving licence is essential for the role.
- Out of hours work may be required including evening meetings and weekends.
- You will be based at the release location in Wiltshire. This location is a working farm and a National Nature Reserve. Occasional assistance to farm staff may be required.
- The role will require national travel to locations, to locate or retrieve tagged hen harriers, conduct visits, meetings, and training. This will sometimes require overnight stays.
Level of Security Checks Required
- Must have or be prepared to undertake security check clearance. The post will also require additional screening from Agenda Security Screening.
- The vetting process will seek to understand your loyalty, honesty and reliability, and identifying any vulnerabilities that could lead you to being bribed or blackmailed.
I guess the vetting process, looking to ‘understand your loyalty, honesty and reliability‘ isn’t meant to be ironic. It’s a shame Natural England doesn’t include such vetting for some of its so-called ‘partners’ in its hen harrier projects.
It also doesn’t include anything about gagging orders and an ability to turn a blind eye in relation to publishing information about illegally-killed hen harriers, especially in the run up to the opening of the grouse shooting season on the Inglorious 12th – wouldn’t want to damage any of its partners’ propaganda missives, eh?
Watch this space.
Raptor Persecution UK 
Unbelievable. But with people like Richard Beynon at Defra able to influence debates in the Lords this is the nonsense and waste of tax payers money we have come to expect for the time being.
A job for those who are deaf and dumb to the real way forward with Hen Harriers, more and better enforcement of the law, better enforcement by NE of the prescriptions on SSSIs as most grouse moors are parts of SSSIs, time they stopped turning a blind eye and time driven Grouse shooting was banned or severely controlled by licence. Perhaps then we wouldn’t need this ludicrous deflection scheme.
And let’s not forget all the other raptors that are being killed on behalf of driven grouse shooting, that NE, whilst engaged in this ludicrous sham, are ignoring.
For somebody who states that they are totally against the employment of someone to help the relocation and establishment of Hen Harriers in the South you certainly give considerable space in your blog to advertising the post. Perhaps one of your regular supporters will apply. On the subject of relocating raptors what are your thoughts on the proposed release of Sea Eagles on the Isle of Wight next to sheep farms. No Grouse shoots to worry about there just baby lambs. I read recently that a local farmer has alredy lost 200 lambs to the Ravens which ate them alive as they were being born so it will be quite interesting to hear your opinion when these Eagles start taking his lambs.
You’re only four years out of date, Tony. WTEs have been released on the Isle of Wight since 2019. I’m not aware of any issues with the IoW eagles taking lambs – the project team has written about the low risk here:
https://www.roydennis.org/white-tailed-eagle-project-frequently-asked-questions/
There are, though, high risks to these eagles from the illegal activities of some gamebird shoots. You may not yet have caught up with the news but at least two eagles are known to have been illegally poisoned, one on a game shoot in Dorset and one on a game shoot in West Sussex.
It’s most interesting that the above mentioned FAQ page states most clearly that…
“The sites are confidential at this stage to ensure the birds can settle in without disruption.”
Yet Tony claims to know that they’re “next to sheep farms”!
Well lets face it sheep are the invasive species originally from thecarea around India
” I read recently that a local farmer has alredy [sic] lost 200 lambs to the Ravens which ate them alive…” Evidence Tony?
Of course the ‘local farmer’ could employ proper shepherding techniques that could protect his – taxpayer funded? – lambs from natural predators, or do you think we should just simply kill all predators all the time and thus perpetuate the denuded ecosystem we have now?
“baby lambs”
How old are you?
Note the faux concern for the welfare of the alleged lambs. But when it comes to killing/maiming wild animals for fun, that’s all fine and dandy.
So you said “I read recently” I wonder where? Given your numbers the alledged lamb loss to ravens, given the average ewe numbers of the islands farms would be well in excess of 20% and as such surely commercially unsustainable? I suspect that your comments are mischievous and disinguouse.
Tony’s recent track record of fantasies
Don’t forget babies in prams & toddlers.
You sir are obviously a moron!
I note you claim a local farmer has “lost 200 lambs to Ravens which ate them alive as they were being born”.
Your comment would suggest that the farmer or someone must have observed this predation in order to know that the lambs were eaten alive at the time of birth, and also took no action to prevent it happening?
Section 9 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 places a duty of care on those who own animals to ensure they take reasonable steps in all the circumstances to meet the welfare needs of their animals to the extent required by good practice.
Whilst it is known that Ravens will attack and kill new born lambs, the advice from organisations such as Nature Scot suggest that ” proper management measures are the most effective means of deterring raven predation. This means, where possible, housing ewes giving birth, or close shepherding in lambing parks”.
So this then raises the question why did a farmer allow 200 new born lambs to be attacked and killed in the manner you describe? And if these attacks were witnessed, why was no action immediately taken to prevent any unnecessary suffering to the new born lambs?
Your claims might suggest the farmer in question has failed to to meet the obligations placed upon him/her under the Animal Welfare Act to prevent unnecessary suffering to his /her livestock, and therefore should perhaps be investigated for potential breaches of this Act?
I also understand Nature Scot has been running a program in Scotland to determine how best to reduce predation of lambs by Sea Eagles, so I am sure this will offer some properly thought out solutions to the problem which you suggest this farmer may encounter.
The big problem however could well be how to encourage farmers who do suffer predation of their lambs from Sea Eagles to actually implement proper and effective management measures rather than resorting to illegal persecution of the eagles.
Your comment very much reminds me of similar scare stories put out by the stupid and ignorant when wolves were introduced into western Europe. I remember reading that farmers in some European countries were up in arms about potential wolf attacks on their livestock, until it was pointed out that it was their approach to the issue which in fact was the problem as if they employed proper shepherding techniques the chance of predation would be minimal. But of course they didn’t want to have to pay for a shepherd to look after their flocks!!
Tony, tell him ,what you need is a few scare crows, or even better some mannekins, like they have on the moor, also kill some carrions and hang them up, its all you can do, dont shoot a raven whatever or youll be in deep poop.
200 lambs…!
Plenty oppertunity to gather video evidence then.
What a xxxxx
This is simply more or less an extension of what Moorland groups were financed and staffed to do … but at a National Level. It was to be expected imo. They are getting all their ducks in a row.
So a totally generic NE lead adviser role then? This will be a very junior role for someone fresh out of university. Don’t persecute them.
Aye Aye Mike, nice to see you are still singing the same song with the same choice as you were 20 years ago with your artist friend. Very little has changed except everyone know the score re persecution nowadays.
Am I the only individual who is genuinely unsure what the status of Hen Harrier in S England was 250 years ago? George Montagu didn’t work out the difference between his eponymous species and Hen Harrier until the age of game preservation was well underway.
I would seriously question whether the whole enterprise has any real scientific merit at all.
Anyone applying for this post will be either ignorant of the ecology of Hen Harriers (and, therefore, not particularly suitable – I see training is offered, but I doubt that it will cover the Hen Harrier’s habit of touring grouse moors and then ‘disappearing’), dishonest (I see a ‘loyalty’ test will be applied! “I swear, on the salary of Tony Juniper, never to criticise the game shooting industry”) or a secret agent of conservationists prepared to ‘gather evidence and spill the beans’?
There was a time when our ‘secret services’ were run by traitors to aid the Soviet Union. Natural England appear to be following this disreputable national tradition:-(
I am fed up with the human race, bread birds to kill, humans go out and shot pheasants, what on earth has this world become kill and kill all of you are shameful
To be fair if the pheasants are actually eaten?
… then they (the pheasants) will cause varying levels of neurological damage.
See https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1128326/hpr0123_LEICSS_2021.pdf
Lead Exposure in Children Surveillance System (England), UKHSA January 2023, shows Yorkshire and Humberside as having the highest detected rate for elevated levels of lead in children’s blood (“there is no known safe threshold for lead exposure”)
Well they are all up one another’s backsides .It’s blatantly obvious who’s to blame ,no smoke without fire. I Wonder how many MPs . Do participate In shooting or their backers .
Raptors taking lambs? What a lot of tosh. I’ve been living in area surrounded by sheep for years and never seen any evidence of it. Also it’s not unusual for me to see half a dozen buzzards circling above my property.
Crows and buzzards will however, take a dead rat that I’ve shot.