Press release from RSPB (18th August 2023)
THREE MORE SATELLITE-TAGGED HEN HARRIERS VANISH ON DRIVEN GROUSE MOORS, ALL WITHIN DAYS OF THE ‘GLORIOUS 12TH’
- Three satellite tagged Hen Harriers have disappeared on private driven grouse moors in Northern England between August 9th and August 15th.
- All three birds were fitted with a satellite tag, which regularly transmit data, allowing their movements to be monitored.
- Two birds had fledged recently on the United Utilities Bowland Estate, and the third was a one-year-old female from the National Trust for Scotland Estate at Mar Lodge.
Three satellite-tracked Hen Harriers have suddenly disappeared over land managed for driven grouse shooting. All three disappearances have happened within days of the Glorious Twelfth, the official start of the shooting season for Red Grouse, and a time where grouse numbers are managed to be at their peak level to ensure a successful shooting season.
Hen Harriers are a rare, protected species, known for their acrobatic ‘skydancing’ courtship display over the uplands. The Hen Harrier is categorised as a red listed species in the UK, due to its low population levels.
Martha was a one-year-old female Hen Harrier. She was tagged as a chick at Mar Lodge, a National Trust for Scotland estate in Aberdeenshire in the spring of 2022. The satellite tracking data shows that Martha moved into Northumberland in early August 2023 and gave her last transmission from Westburnhope Moor near Hexham, in the North Pennines on 9 August 2023.
Selena was a juvenile female tagged on United Utilities land in Bowland in the spring of this year. Her satellite tag showed that she had just moved to the Yorkshire Dales before her last transmission from Mossdale Moor near Hawes, in the Yorkshire Dales on 11August 2023.
Hepit was another young female Hen Harrier. She had also been tagged as a chick on United Utilities land in Bowland this year, before moving to the Yorkshire Dales last month. Hepit’s last transmission came from moorland at Birkdale Common near Kirkby Stephen, on 15 August 2023 – an area where 9 other satellite-tagged Hen Harriers have vanished or been found dead with injuries consistent with persecution since September 2020.
Despite being legally protected, multiple studies and reports confirm that illegal killing is the main factor limiting the recovery of Hen Harrier in the UK, causing a reduction in nesting success, annual productivity and survival of breeding females. A recent RSPB Centre for Conservation Science study which investigated the illegal killing of satelite-tagged Hen Harriers in association with gamebird management (Ewing, et al 2023) has shown that the survival rates of Hen Harriers in the UK is “unusually low” with birds surviving for just 121 days after fledging. Human persecution accounted for 27-41% of deaths on Hen Harriers aged under one year and 75% of deaths in birds aged between one and two years. It also highlighted a strong overlap between Hen Harrier mortality and the extent of grouse moors.
Sadly, although this pattern of satellite tagged birds disappearing around the start of the Red Grouse shooting season has been seen before, the RSPB have never had a case of three satellite-tagged Hen Harriers going missing within six days.
Beccy Speight, RSPB Chief Executive said – “This is the first time so many hen harriers have gone missing in such a short space of time, all on driven grouse moors. This is on top of the 21 birds that we reported on in April, as having gone missing in the last twelve months. If these magnificent birds are ever going to have a sustainable population in England this has to stop, productivity from nests simply means nothing if the birds don’t survive.
We call on the UK Government to introduce a licencing system for grouse shooting in England similar to measures now being taken forward in Scotland, to act as a meaningful deterrent to raptor crime whilst also protecting the legitimate interests of those landowners who operate legally.”
All three incidents have been reported to the police and the NWCU (National Wildlife Crime Unit). Sadly, there are several other Hen Harrier persecution incidents that we cannot report on at this time.
If you notice a dead or injured bird of prey in suspicious circumstances, call the police on 101 and fill in the RSPB’s online reporting form: https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/wild-bird-crime-report-form/
If you have information about anyone killing birds of prey which you wish to report anonymously, call the RSPB’s confidential Raptor Crime Hotline on 0300 999 0101.
ENDS
These latest three victims mean that at least 101 hen harriers have gone ‘missing’ / been killed illegally in the UK since 2018, most of them on or close to driven grouse moors. I’ll update the list shortly.
It’s clear from the statement in the RSPB press release, ‘Sadly, there are several other Hen Harrier persecution incidents that we cannot report on at this time‘, that there are multiple other cases of missing/killed hen harriers still to be publicised, no doubt delayed by certain police forces not doing their jobs.
It’s interesting to see the RSPB take the decision not to wait before publicising these latest three incidents. All three have been reported to the police, quite rightly, but given the appalling track record of both North Yorkshire Police and Northumbria Police in dealing with investigations into suspected raptor persecution crimes, there seems little point in waiting anymore. In fact I’d go as far to say that there should be independent inquiries into the mishandling of investigations into raptor persecution crimes by these two police forces. Some of their latest failures are yet to be reported but some are already in the public domain (e.g. here, here, here).
UPDATE 11.40hrs: 101 hen harriers confirmed ‘missing’ or illegally killed in UK since 2018, most of them on or close to grouse moors (here).
Raptor Persecution UK 
I wonder if this latest atrocity will cement United Utility’s decision to cancel licences on their land.
Let’s hope so,really is time the authorities started to prosecute & jail owners/CEOs of these entities. That’s the only way these people will actually take action.
Careful! The grouse shooting industry will see this as a cue to claim that the missing birds were killed by “antis” as part of a conspiracy to discredit grouse shooting at the start of the season.
On shoot days someone with a chip detector should stand near the shoot party they will see that the birds chips are being monitored I’m sure that would make them think twice before shooting more raptors, we should lobby parliament to make laws that bring hefty sentences to those caught shooting or interfering with the reintegration process
These crimes aren’t being committed on shoot days, Mark. The Harriers and other raptors are killed, behind the scenes and year-round by gamekeepers and other lackeys.
That’s a great idea.Contact someone please.Its heartbreaking.
Under what law? you are talking nonsense.
I presume you are asking what laws say you can’t kill Hen Harriers? Erm, these ones I believe…..
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1954/30/schedules/enacted
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/69
The shooting estates must be held accountable fo ANY missing or killed Hen Harriets on or near their land and be fined £20,000 for each and every bird killed on or near their land.
Make these wealthy estate OWNERS responsible in law for the safety of the birds and as money is all they are interested in HIT THEM WHERE IT HURTS, THEIR POCKETS.
For God’s sake we are supposed to be civilized human beings. Shooting game birds or any animal for sport should be banned period and when they finally catch the Hen harrier killers they should be dealt with like the scum that they are, oh and the police that are in their pockets.
Nothing ever gets done ‘petty fines wont stop them. Too many judges etc who are into shooting’
Money talks police never see. To do nothing about it probably hands tied.
Complete arse holes these people.
So sad to hear of more harriers disappearing in grouse moor areas but not unexpected.
Words fail me . The cause of their disappearance is obvious and yet we are impotent in bringing justice into being to avenge their deaths .
Yet again no evidence to substantiate these claim ,look at the number of hen harriers on rspb sites compared to managed moorland , facts not fiction,propaganda as per the norm from this group
Well what a surprise!!
Parroting falsehood and propaganda from Mr Loveridge.
Lee, you’re talking absolute nonsense. Do you know how satellite tags work? Do you know how incredibly rare it is that they suddenly malfunction? If a Hen Harrier randomly disappears over a shooting estate, and the bird and satellite tag can’t be recovered, that is compelling evidence in and of itself. You’re a wildlife crime apologist and you should be deeply ashamed.
These idiots have had the function of these tags explained to them many times, Da. They simply delude themselves that if they repeat the same old lies enough times, people will ultimately fall for them.
I recommend the following guest blog by Mr Irving. It takes him just two short paragraphs to utterly demolish the falsehood regarding Hen Harrier breeding on and off RSPB reserves….
https://markavery.info/2023/07/08/guest-blog-shooters-ecological-illiteracy-on-social-media-by-paul-irving/
Don’t talk rubbish! Little men with big guns again , no doubt.
your talking garbage, clearly an apologist for the shooting ‘industry’, the point is the number of birds that go missing or are found dead on or near shooting sites is vastly disproportionate to those found dead outside of these areas.
[Ed: comment deleted as abusive]
It is with deep sadness that I read this today .In the light of United Utilities announcement to not renew Grouse shooting licences, it is more important than ever that they do not buckle under pressure from the shooting industry.I know they have had to increase security for staff from death threats and at least one incident of someone attempting to drive a member of staff off the road.These bullying and abusive tactics must not be allowed to win, it would be a travesty. Other corporate landowners must now look at their own relationship with the Grouse shooting industry if they are not to appear to be appeasing or supporting organised criminality.
Hi Ros
Is that information in the public domain? And are you certain? Sorry don’t mean to doubt but just wondering what connection you have with UU or how close you are to these incidents.
Thanks.
Absolutely horrified.These people are absolutely depraved and should all be locked up. These rare birds are not protected at all.Hoq can we make the govt. take appropriate action.RSPB never mention this subject and I am a member.RSPB members should push for something to be done.
Grouse shooting MUST be banned.
Can the land owner be held responsible for what occurs on their land.
Currently in England it appears not.
Makes you wonder why the police are doing little about these matters ,is it another case of backhanded.???
So, sadly I’m not surprised at all. I’ve come across many traps on the moors and set them off, and will continue to do so. Up at Alston so many individuals were out, it was like children at Christmas time. All excited, terrible to know they get their pleasure from killing or maiming. Not every shot is fatal neither, nit immediately anyway…..
Desperately upsetting. These people are blatantly breaking the law, knowing they’ll never be caught. They’re like the mafia; their power seems absolute.
I hope UU stick with their plan but, of course, these birds died elsewhere.
Once again, I say ban all of it
If the birds are sat tagged whoever owns the land / shoot where they are going missing should be held responsible and put in jail. Should also loose shoot licenses for that year at least. Soon leave the birds alone.
But the landowner might argue (truly or falsely) that outside forces had entered their land and committed the crime, Carl. I’m afraid that more evidence is required than that. After all, what should we do if Harriers are killed on nature reserves by gamekeepers from neighbouring estates?
This is what we’re up against. And the criminals know it!
Absolutely, don’t know why this isn’t already happening
Probably because there aren’t any ‘shoot licences’ to be withdrawn. Gamebird shooting in the UK (grouse, pheasant & partridge) is largely unregulated – they can kill as many as they want and they don’t have to report the numbers to anyone.
The issue is not about shooting game birds for the pot!, thats no different than buying a chicken! Lets not go down the silly dont eat meat road, society wont back that This is about raptor persecution, we must prosecute even jail, keepers and landowners, and take away licences!, The public will back that!
But none of the comments here refer to the consumption of meat.
Under current laws in England none of this can happen, much as we all might wish it.
Well said carl!, that is the answer, ive no issue with people shooting grouse for the pot!, its a big industry for rural communities!, but rare birds like hen harriers deserve full protection!, close the estates where the crimes have taken place!
Not very good all they care about is money and won’t be happy until extinction ov all birds or mammals pluss are they being protected by unscrupulous law enforcement agencies
I read recently that the BTO have started to put satellite tags on Curlews as part of their research. Let’s see if the Curlew tags have the same ‘failure rate’ as the Hen Harriers
All these so called sportsmen should be sent to the Ukraine and shoot at something that shoots back, do abit of good for a change or is that asking too much?
Come now, Simon!
If we’re to believe some of the comments over the last couple of days, they fill their pants when faced with a dozen unarmed boys and girls in “balaclavas”!
I wish I could say I am ‘stunned’ but to be honest, nothing surprises me about the shooting industry. If we continue like this, we will have a ‘gun lobby’ like US, that are untouchable. To even pretend that landowners have no idea what managers are doing on their land, is seriously insulting our intelligence. In the same way the owner of a car is ultimately responsible for crimes committed by a driver, same should be with land. However, tech would need to be beefed up, ‘cos no doubt birds would end up being dumped elsewhere, or burnt or buried. The moment the tracker stops transmitting, the land it’s over should be investigated and fined min. £100k.
But how many go missing on RSPB land contra grouse moors? The documented evidence makes it quite obvious to most people (but not yourself) that there is persecution on moorland managed for grouse. Suggest you read the facts and stop trolling this website.
The above was in response to the comment from Lee Loveridge btw.
It seems very clear that there is an area in the north western corner of the Yorkshire Dales National Park which has become a sink hole for Hen Harriers.
Having done a little research it would appear that part of this area is also designated a SSSI, and in receipt of public funding through countryside stewardship grants.
I suspect there would be considerable public anger if it transpired that public money was helping to fund criminal activity.
What is perhaps disappointing is that neither the police, the Yorkshire Dales Parks Authority or Natural England appear to be willing to publicise the high number of satellite tagged Hen Harriers which disappear in this particular area and raise public awareness of the issue at a national level.
Raptor persecution is supposedly a national wildlife crime priority.
Perhaps it is time there was an open and transparent government enquiry into the raptor persecution and wildlife crime which seems to occur with persistent regularity within the nations national parks, and other designated countryside areas.
I suspect such an enquiry would be very uncomfortable for some.
How about a “Name and Shame” campaign? The criminals who do this are known to those who employ them, their associates and friends. Are they known to the police in their area? Most likely. Public condemnation is needed. They kill these magnificent birds with brazen impunity, and they don’t care because no one takes them to task for their crimes. Call it what you will – the “naming and shaming”, a “rogues gallery”, names and faces plastered on posters with pictures of the shot, poisoned, trapped birds that these dysfunctional, cruel killers have murdered, would be some justice.
Like everyone previously said the Landowners should be prosecuted and held accountable if illegal acts are happening on THEIR LAND . I know who owns the moors round north Yorkshire so the police must. Its not the minions its the big boys who need to be brought to justice and made an example of ! As soon as a crime is committed and the area identified tagged or untagged birds of prey or cruelty it should be automatic prosecution and hefty fines !! Just get it banned !! The word illegal does not mean anything to these backward heartless entitled thugs of the countryside because they know they are above the law because it does not exist and they know it. I was on he phone to the police for over an hour the other night to report a serious crime and they never even answered say no more!!
The land needs taking of them an send them an their family’s to prison. Should do the trick. How long can we just let them do whatever they want. Time for us to stand up an be c
ounted
Ignorance is the main reason for destruction of raptor species.
The same ignorance was shown when an East European lynx got loose a few years ago in SouthernEngland.Instead of experts coming forward and making it clear that this type of lynx avoids human contact at all costs and feeds on small woodland creatures a panic ensued with the cretinous media publishing scare stories resulting in the lynx being killed. In certain areas of Eastern Europe lynx,bears and wolves are part of day to day landscape it is the cretins of the sensationalist press that publish scare stories about raptor attacks on farm animals and fake attacks on people..
I think money and greed main reasons Hen Harriers are killed.
Greed of the current shooting generation that just wants more and more game birds to kill, so they can brag about their bag sizes.
And money, because landowners and estates make money and attract fee paying clientele based on the number of shoot days they can offer, and the bag sizes that shooters can expect to kill.
As such keepers are often under enormous pressure to meet the demands of their employers and the expectations of the shooters.
It’s a downward spiral – if you have listened to the Guardian podcast – Killing sky dancer – it’s very informative and very well researched.
However, there could be a very simple solution – if shooters were limited to the number of cartridges they could fire, or there was a maximum daily bag size each shooter was allowed to shot, then this could put much less pressure on estates to produce such high volume of game birds.
The issue is of course is many shooters wouldn’t accept this
Some of the older ones, who have noticed the decline in nature and biodiversity and have a greater interest in conservation might.
But the younger ones, who are part of the “me -me , self entitled generation ” would probably struggle to accept any constraints on their self indulgent lifestyles!
In fairness, John, the obsession with record-breaking “bags” began in the victorian era.
I think your both right. I see it this way. Achieving consistent big bags in the post-war years was tough – due to the relatively high cost of employing people in modern times, particularity when grouse bags were subject to the accepted traditional boom and bust cycles caused by the strongyle worm, and nobody could forecast how much financial return would be made on a large capital investment and initial outlay. So the obsession with trying to achieve Victorian and Edwardian bag sizes cooled to an extent. Then in the nineties a magic potion was developed that changed everything. The evolution of medicated grit and knowing how to deploy it, evened out the boom and bust bag cycles. With this came owner / agent confidence, it then became attractive to invest heavily in lots more keepers and equipment, roads, butts, buildings, etc. And chasing the Edwardian records became a practically do-able thing once again. All of those old records have since been smashed many times, the period 2010 to 2020 was the “second Edwardian period” in game shooting and it eclipsed the first by a long chalk. The last three or four of years have been generally dull. This year fairly good so far I think. I suspect we may well be on the cusp of a “third Edwardian period” of grouse shooting big bags in this decade, the biggest yet.
[Ed: comment deleted as abusive]
Just heartbreaking….. the landowners and their gamekeepers need to be prosecuted!! It is unbelievable that this is allowed to continue without anyone being held accountable!!😡😡
Given the number of these birds that have tragically been killed or “disappeared” since 2018 and the fact that the authorities seem helpless or hopeless in dealing with these crimes we really do need a change in the law such that the widespread criminality in grouse shooting has a cost, a cost that matters to them. Without a ban the only option is a robust licencing system that relies on the civil burden of proof such that estates where this happens loose the licence to shoot. I say this because given the number of birds a a pattern of where this happens, perhaps on which estates must already be emerging, yet despite this little seems to happen and there are certainly no apparent consequences for killing our precious protected Hen Harriers and it is way beyond time that changed dramatically.
Nothing would please me more to see the smiling prats who regularly tell us DGS loves harriers, red faced, lost for words with their so called sport gone on those estates we all know are regularly hosting disappearances and deaths of these fantastic birds. I suspect nothing will change until we have a change of government to bring this about but i for one am beyond sick and angry that this continues and will continue unabated whilst the smug bastards in shooting organisation trumpet their entirely empty and false zero tolerance. Zero tolerance to being caught, rather than doing the deed in the first place.
I seem to think there have been serious concerns about North Yorkshire Police in the past in relation to a number of matters. These latest episodes give cause for concern again. I am not saying they are a bunch of cowboys but you can hear their spurs jangling as they walk down the street. Then there is Yorkshire Rite Freemasonry which has a powerful influence in this area.
Until recently NYP were in fact very good but they now have a new man in charge of the Rural crime team and to be frank the jury is still out.
For Flips Sake!!!! I just despair. Agree with most comments above especially hitting the landowners where it hurts. Still can’t get to grips with Why a person sets out deliberately to kill another living creature, wild or bred for the purpose. Yes it is barbaric!!!!
[Ed: comment deleted as abusive. Steve, this is the third one, if you continue you’ll be banned]
Unfortunately the establishment are in control probably under the protection of MI5.
May I ask what the range is of the tags and the tag readers. Also, it doesn’t matter how much unsubstantiated evidence you think you have without hard evidence you haven’t a legal case. You can’t lock someone up on a hunch or a likelyhood, evidence is needed, facts are needed , then you should get somewhere near to where you want the law to be. Anger, mud throwing and name calling won’t make a case.. lmo.
Satellite tags have no range limitations if the subject remains on the planet.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-09044-w#Sec8
I’ve just stumbled across a shocking piece of journalism in today’s Barnsley Chronicle. The online story features NE’s brood-meddling trial with quotes from NE and the departing Amanda about this wonderful project and the marvellous gamekeepers who have made it all happen.
No attempt by the reporter to question this assertion.
I suspect his byline was simply added to a press release printed word for word. I’ve seen it happen many times.
Anyone in that area like to challenge their coverage?