This weekend Sky News ran several pieces about raptor persecution and how the wildlife killers are getting with these crimes, with a prosecution rate of less than 4%.
They produced a written piece (here) featuring quotes from the RSPB’s Investigations Team and they also conducted several interviews, one with Howard Jones, RSPB Senior Investigations Officer, one with Mark Thomas, Head of RSPB Investigations and one with Chris Packham.
The interview with Mark Thomas showed some covert video footage by the RSPB showing two gamekeepers removing live buzzards from a crow cage trap, putting them inside fertiliser sacks, tying the top and putting the bags inside a vehicle. It doesn’t show what happened to them next but you can probably imagine; there have been enough previous cases where gamekeepers have been caught on camera bludgeoning trapped birds of prey to death (e.g. see here, here, here) to make an educated guess. These earlier convictions probably explain why these days its common to see the trapped birds being removed from the trap and taken away, presumably to be killed away from potential covert cameras. It’s also telling that the gamekeepers involved in more recent cases typically wear face masks in an attempt to hide their identities. They’ve learned from the mistakes of others.
As Mark discusses during the interview, it’s not an offence to catch birds of prey in crow cage traps – they often get in and can’t then find a way out. If the trap operator releases them, unharmed, immediately after discovering them, then no offence has been committed. Putting them inside a sack and taking them away is a clear offence and is indicative of further offences (i.e. killing the birds elsewhere).
This particular footage hasn’t previously been published, and there’s a reason for that. I’ll return to this case in a separate blog.
I can’t find the full interviews in one place but there are various clips that can be watched via Twitter, which I’ve linked below.
Raptor Persecution UK 
This situation will continue for as longs as senior police officers, police & crime commissioners, lawyers and the judiciary are drawn from the same stratum of society, or aspire to belong to the same stratum of society, as the landowners who instruct / allow their employees to carry out these crimes.
Even when a gamekeeper actually gets convicted, despite his employer providing top line barristers to defend the indefensible, the penalties given are almost always at the lowest possible end of the scale available.
Well done to Sky News.
Considering all the hours devoted to wildlife, especially on the BBC, why is this topic *always* ignored on such programmes?
It isn’t just the Police, Parliament and the Judiciary who are being wilfully blind to the issue: ‘main stream media’ also ‘play it down’.
I think that every single time any UK raptor is featured in any wildlife programme, the relentless, criminal persecution of this order of birds in the UK should be mentioned, together with the reasons why these birds are being persecuted.
So… why hasn’t that happened in the past, and why isn’t it happening now?
The same TV stations do not constantly ignore the issue of the illegal hunting of African ‘big game’, for example, as reason for the UK public to be concerned. It is second-nature for illegal poaching to be raised as a constant threat…
But, on our own doorstep… nothing. And it is not only ‘main stream media’ at fault, either. Look at WWF…
The dead hand of the landed ‘gentry’ at work… So why do TV Executives spinelessly comply?
This is a problem which is has been interlinked to royals throughout history, and while it is still OK for royals to murder birds for fun this will not stop.
There needs to be a shift in understanding from the top down.
While the royals, and rich think its OK to shoot birds for fun there will be an element of shooting estates which are only interested in their bottom line, how much money they can grab.
This is detrimental to wildlife, and birds of prey, and any other wildlife that gets in the way.
With young gamekeepers, and irresponsible game bird industry, the birds of prey do not stand a chance, the biggest problem of all is the law which is supposed to protect them, it is too wishy washy, and has no backbone.
I will refer to recent laws just made up regarding the use of drones, the rules are very tight, and suspicion is enough to get jail time, and a hefty fine, however with birds of prey, it has to be proven beyond doubt before anything happens.
If I flew a drone to a point which I can still see it with my own eyes and no aids, it could be further than someone else can fly, and this would be enough to get me into hot water, if it is deemed that an authority would not be able to see it, or if I flew it at 125m above the point that it was launched, regardless to if I had moved 5 mtrs up the side of a hill after it had been launched, I would have broken the law.
I will make it clear, I agree entirely with the need for laws, and rules, and it is important for the safety of others
But with that said there is nothing at all like this to do with birds of prey, and the laws are just too sloppy, and vague, we need clear, and precise rules, and regs, which will protect birds of prey.
We need the law to be on the side of the victims, the birds of prey, currently as with many other victims, the criminals have more rights, and more protection.
For example, if someone commits murder, they, in my opinion have given up their human rights, the same as they took the rights away from their victim, and punishment should match the crime, none of this old twaddle about their creature comforts, and turning prisons into holiday camps, it should be horrible, as it meant to be a punishment, having a play station or box in their cell is hardly punishment,( depending on your age, and intelligence I suppose).
The legal system in this country has been damaged, and not fit for purpose for many decades, and can not be fixed with a sticking plaster.
Along with suspended sentences, and time off for good behaviour, (which is a joke), there is absolutely no deterrent in going to prison, at the end of the day the whole point of prison is to rehabilitate, and teach these people how to integrate with society, and to show them the errors of their ways, and to help them behave like humans, not animals, but to reward good behaviour is just daft, that is why they are in prison to start with, so they can learn good behaviour, giving them a reduction in their punishment because they have improved a bit is part of the problem with the legal system, their responsibility is to improve, so they can fit in to society, and be an asset to the community.
If a bird of prey is found dead on a shooting estate, the estate is as responsible for the birds demise as the person who pulled the trigger, and should be sanctioned, loss of license for a season, for first offence, and removal of license for any further incidents, and as for gamekeepers, if found responsible for killing the bird of prey should have all gun licences removed permanently, and banned from holding any position relating to the game industry.
We also need to have protection for the birds of prey from the natural England lot, along with defra, we need to have a body of legal protection which is independent, and I mean independent, unlike defra, ( death extermination, for raptors, animals), a body supposedly there to protect wildlife, birds , environment etc, but have game industry owners, and managers on the board of directors, that must be a conflict of interest, surely?.
The best fix would be a body of people made up from people who have absolutely no connection with the game industry, and must have no links to the rich who choose to kill game birds for fun.
It needs to be completely independent, and have the power to make decisions on the spot, based on evidence, and
If there is a pile of dead buzzards on your land, and all shot, and you run a game shooting estate, the writing is clearly on the wall, guilty.
It is not rocket science, game bird estates use every tactic to save their precious game birds , regardless of impact to land and other wildlife, and despite birds of prey being protected.
It is so difficult for me to understand, or comprehend the logic behind why these people get away with killing birds of prey, there are laws in place, but are not acted upon, it is no different to the laws regarding speed on a motorway, it is a maximum of 70mph, set back when cars had a rudimentary braking system, even though cars, and lorries, all have much more advanced braking systems, now, and can stop a whole lot quicker and safer than when the Laws where written, if you are spotted doing an excess of 70mph, and this does not have to be captured on a measuring device, if the perceeved speed is obviously more than 70 mph you will get prosecuted, with no physical evidence, I know this as I have know people who have been successfully charged with excess speed, and dangerous driving, etc.
So if it can be used on drivers, the circumstantial evidence should also be able to hold up in court, and charges should be brought in every case regarding birds of prey.
The next law on the list that needs urgent attention is that hen harrier brood meddling nonsense, whoever thought of this idea was obviously sleepwalking, or just didn’t have a clue about the implications for hen harriers with what was effectively a free pass for unscrupulous people to just kill them off without a care in the world, and no chance of charges being made against them for the crime of killing these majestic birds of prey, especially as they could hide details of where they had been and where they had been moved to.
Thanks for the rant, Brion.
“If a bird of prey is found dead on a shooting estate, the estate is as responsible for the birds demise as the person who pulled the trigger, and should be sanctioned, loss of license for a season, for first offence, and removal of license for any further incidents…”
What if the estate upon which the illegally killed raptor is found happens to be an estate which does not persecute raptors? What if the dead raptor had been shot from a neighbouring estate? Or, had been shot over another estate and managed to fly a bit further and died on a neighbouring estate?
Is that possible?
“If there is a pile of dead buzzards on your land, and all shot, and you run a game shooting estate, the writing is clearly on the wall, guilty.”
What if the ‘pile of dead buzzards’ had been planted by someone not connected to the shooting estate, but with a serious grievance? A sacked gamekeeper, perhaps?
Is that possible?
This country is F_ _ _ed like Russia it’s ran by the wrong people who care not a jot about realism and what’s really going on with cruelty to birds of prey and animals backward cruel people rule my friend has just bought a skeletal horse from a hunting yard down south she was so upset and disgusted offered half what was wanted but has got the horse poor little sod and is giving him a chance. These are not animal lovers or compassionate people the sooner hunting shooting is all banned the better . These types are not going to change it won’t change until they are pushing up the daisies and hopefully a new generation is out there. The entitled few have more money and power to get away with murder.