It’s been a long time coming, but today Natural England has announced it is finally pulling the plug on its project to ‘reintroduce’ Hen Harriers to southern England.
It may sound odd that a pro-raptor conservationist sees this as good news, but I have long argued against this project, for a number of reasons, but predominantly because I saw it as an unhelpful distraction to tackling the real issue – that of the illegal killing of Hen Harriers on the grouse moors of northern Britain.
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 think the proposed reintroduction project was initially supported by the pro-grouse shooting lobby because they thought that Hen Harriers could be removed from the northern grouse moors (under the equally ludicrous brood meddling scheme) and released into southern England, thus removing what they saw as a ‘problem species’ to the other end of the country, leaving them to get on with killing Red Grouse for fun (and money) without those pesky Hen Harriers ruining their sport (and profit).
However, that plan was thwarted when it was pointed out that it would be a breach of international legislation to remove Hen Harriers from Special Protection Areas (SPAs) that had been designated specifically for Hen Harriers, and release them elsewhere.
I suspect that the pro-grouse shooting lobby continued to support the proposed ‘reintroduction’ into southern England because they knew that if even a handful of Hen Harriers were successful in the south, it would take the heat / attention off the continued illegal killing in the north.
We saw exactly this, when the brood meddling trial resulted in a few more pairs of Hen Harriers being allowed to breed – the ongoing illegal killing was simply brushed under the carpet by the grouse shooting lobby, and in many cases, outright denied using comically farcical logic (e.g. here) or grotesquely distorted reasoning (e.g. here).
But Hen Harriers don’t need to be ‘reintroduced’ to southern England, or anywhere else in the UK for that matter. They are perfectly capable of breeding in the wild and recolonising their former range, over a relatively short space of time, IF, and only IF, their survival isn’t curtailed by grouse moor gamekeepers shooting, trapping and poisoning them, pulling off their heads and legs, or stamping on their eggs and chicks.
Instead of wasting hundreds of thousands of pounds on this distraction project over many years, those funds could instead have been directed towards a focused enforcement plan to bring those criminals to justice.
For those interested, I’ve written extensively about this project since November 2016 and you can find links to the key blog posts here.
Here is today’s announcement from Natural England about the conclusion of the project:
NATURAL ENGLAND HEN HARRIER PROGRAMME – UPDATE TO SOUTHERN REINTRODUCTION PROJECT
By Sofía Muñoz, Senior Officer, Hen Harrier Southern Reintroduction
Background
The Hen Harrier Southern Reintroduction Project was set up in 2018 with the aim of establishing a wild, farmland-nesting population of hen harriers (Circus cyaneus) in southern England.
The hen harrier is an iconic species and one of the UK’s rarest and most persecuted birds of prey. The combination of its beauty, charisma and rarity make this a highly cherished and valued bird. Hen harriers were once common across the UK but were driven to extinction across most of the British Isles during the 1800s. More recently, Natural England and many organisations have put great effort into helping them recolonise parts of Scotland and northern England.
In England, their numbers are now estimated to have risen to 50 territorial pairs recorded in 2023, from four territorial pairs in 2016 – an increase of 1150%. Despite this increase in numbers, hen harriers remain at risk from illegal killing and disturbance, which is where human activities disrupt nesting sites, which can cause parent birds to abandon their nest and lead to failed eggs or chick deaths.
Increasing hen harrier numbers is a particularly challenging task as they have a strong inclination to return to the same place they have hatched and fledged, meaning they don’t spread areas easily.
Project timeline
In 2018, the Hen Harrier Southern Reintroduction project was conceived to encourage recolonisation of hen harriers further south in the UK. The project initially sought to translocate young hen harriers from continental Europe for release in the UK. However, collaboration between EU states and new importation rules for animals following the UK’s exit from the EU meant that translocation of young fledging birds became unfeasible due to extensive quarantine periods.
Instead, a pioneering captive conservation breeding programme was developed which focussed on releasing offspring bred in the UK from adult birds imported from France and Spain. Beginning in late 2022, this ambitious programme hoped to boost the number of hen harriers in the UK with minimal impact on wild populations. The project sought to release a minimum of 100 juvenile hen harriers over a five-year period to ensure the best chances of success.
In continental Europe, hen harriers nest on farmland which is directly comparable to much of the arable landscape across southern England. As part of the project, release pens were situated among an arable crop and these would be used to introduce chicks to the site from the captive breeding facility several weeks before fledging. It was hoped that this would enable them to familiarise themselves with the habitat and area around the release site, leading to them returning to breed in this same location in subsequent years.
Latest situation
The third breeding season for the captive birds began in 2025. While the adult birds had not bred successfully in the first two years of the programme, advances in their breeding behaviour over the two years (2023; 2024) had been noted. This meant that the team were optimistic that that things were moving in the right direction to eventually produce chicks for release. However, to the team’s disappointment, the females unfortunately laid infertile eggs in 2025, meaning that no chicks would be released this year.
Future of the project
The Southern Reintroduction project constitutes one of six components of the Joint action plan for the recovery of the English hen harrier population (2016) being delivered by Natural England, with the support of DEFRA. It has been running in parallel with other activities, such as the long-term monitoring of the species in northern England.
Following a thorough review, it has become clear that Natural England is no longer in a position to provide the long-term funding and resource needed to continue delivering the Hen Harrier Southern Reintroduction project, despite the progress to date. The difficult decision has therefore been made to conclude this project.
The welfare of the hen harriers held in captivity for the conservation breeding programme remains the priority for the project through its closing phase. A number of options exist for the birds, and these will be explored in full. As they are unsuitable for release into the wild, they will be transferred into the care of a suitable host organisation. Organisations will be considered suitable where they are able to ensure the ongoing welfare of the birds for the remainder of their natural lives. In addition, Natural England would not preclude continuation of the conservation breeding programme under the leadership of the chosen organisation if the priority of welfare is maintained.
Informing future conservation
Knowledge acquired through the delivery of this project can help to inform other conservation projects and expand our understanding of hen harrier biology. We have, for instance, gained a deeper insight into the health, genetics, and migratory patterns of hen harriers.
We would like to express our gratitude to all our partners, who have contributed their time, expertise, and commitment to this project over the years.
ENDS
I’ve asked Natural England for a copy of what it calls its “thorough review” of this failed project.
I’ll report if/when Natural England sends it to me.
Don’t hold your breath though, I’m still waiting for NE to send me a copy of its Hen Harrier Brood Meddling Social Science report that I asked for in April 2025 (here).
Oh, and we’re STILL waiting for NE to release this year’s Hen Harrier breeding figures, AND to release the details of at least seven post-mortem reports on dead Hen Harriers, many of them dating back over a year (here). More commentary on that from me to come shortly…
Raptor Persecution UK 
It’s hard to write anything about this without getting too rude for publication (so well done RPUK for remaining relatively measured!), but what a total farce NE have been with hen harriers for far too many years, and as for this specific part of their “work”, good riddance to complete rubbish.
I am very impressed with whoever wrote this, I do hope it wasn’t a robot? A conservationist with a bloody Backbone – BRILLIANT 👏
How can a failed reintroduction project be good news?
1 it was a captive bird breeding project that had no impact on native birds in the North of England
2 Hen Harriers do not spread easily naturally. They tend to return sobered so this was a great project.
3 as the project was abandoned the South of England is the poorer for this.
I feel an agenda in this article that is cutting of the nose despite the face. For practical reasons NE should have partnered with falconers who are expert at captive raptor breeding. Sometimes you have to hold back on principles and look at yhe bigger picture. Such a shame for the Harrier.
’to spite’ NOT ‘despite’ – please
and one “cuts off” not “cuts of” to spite one’s face and goodness knows what “yhe the bigger picture” means. Or, are we being too cruel?
‘yhe’ was clearly (as Y is next to T) only a typo not a spelling mistake, a very easy mistake to make especially if using a phone. It pays to re-read what you’ve written before sending it, you can tell those that do, e.g I’m sure Ruth does – never any spelling mistakes or typos, unlike other emails I get. It wasn’t quite absolutely necessary to call him out – we knew what it meant bt no worries to you I’m not having a go for it. ( I know I’ve made the odd few spelling mistakes on here )
can’t we just leave wildlife alone. Here in the north of Scotland hen harriers are as common as buzzards. Beautiful bird doing their sky dancing. I only once saw one in Cumbria while living there for 22 years. I see them every day here in Scotland.
Well it worked with red kites, so why not with Hen harriers. Is this all about just stopping grouse shooting, or just stopping harrier persecution. We need grouse moors as bird sanctuaries, the surrounding moors are birdless wastelands, full of sheep and dog walkers. Ive been an avid ornithologist for most of my life, and im now 70, so i should know.
What a cretinous comment, we need bird killing grounds that are managed by people that shoot raptors to help raptors? and you then attempt to bolster that comment with ‘it’s true because I’m really old’…. stick to bowls ffs.
So its ur way or no way dean, well that never works, ive spent a lot of time on grouse moors!, and yes the killing of raptors is wrong, and needs to stop. The grouse shooting fraternity needs educating, and convincing that lower bags of grouse will suffice, and keep their traditional sport going. Im not a loony anti this, anti that, grouse are a game bird, and a food source, and can be managed in good numbers. Harriers in england are extremely rare!, and its them that are my concern. Diplomacy is the answer, not bloody minded confrontation. I would love to see harriers hunting farmland in southern england, and can fully understand the frustration that matt must have.
Hi John, you say…
“The grouse shooting fraternity needs educating, and convincing that lower bags of grouse will suffice, and keep their traditional sport going.”
Nice sentiment, I used to advocate it myself but it has proven over the decades to be an impossibility to use “carrot only” to induce that extent of change among the Owners (mostly entitled people who live by their own rules, except for a minority of them).
These days am 100% convinced that only getting serious about also using “stick” – by way of investigating, prosecution and sentencing – will change anything.
And I also think that this project was set up as a distraction and an alternative that would allow the killing on grouse moors to continue. I’m pleased it has gone away.
Also i disagree with you about harriers “not spreading easily” in my experience they do spread when left alone, and if persecution ended overnight I think they would become relatively common throughout all suitable habitat in about 20 years.
Antis aren’t the loonies!! ( God bless the hunt saboteurs for starting to interfere with shooting ) How the hell can you have the nerve to call it ‘BLOODY minded confrontation’ when that’s exactly what shooting is BLOODY minded – the spilling of BLOOD. Saying that Gamebirds are a source of food is no defence when only a small % of shot birds are sold for meat, the majority get dumped.
I personally can’t come up with a single positive about the shooting industry – not to mention that killing animals is just sick through + through.
However, if anything, I do agree with you that they could be convinced that lower bags would suffice if it reduced killing.
‘lower bags would suffice if it reduced the killing of both predators + Gamebirds – I should have said.
Perhaps NE could introduce a replacement scheme where errant gamekeepers are invited down south leaving hen harriers to nest, hatch and fledge on the northern moors !
Now that’s what I call a solution! And how about making landowners responsible for the actions of gamekeepers. And I really don’t believe it’s the odd errant gamekeeper who persecutes raptors. The grouse shooting lobby is an extremely powerful one with some very clever minds behind it. Its lies, deceitfulness and obfuscation needs putting to an end.
Haha but I don’t think there is enough “vacant territories” down south for them to settle in – the south seems almost as well stocked with errant keepers as the north!
Just a thought : would a captive breeding and release scheme be a good idea for Montagu’s Harrier? It is on the brink of extinction in the UK, and it needs help. One pair nesting this year, the first in eight years, is a very thin lifeline for the species.
As for Hen Harrier – just ban driven shooting. It would get along very well without the grouse moor massacres!
It was’nt me who said harriers dont spread easily!, they will if left to breed. I totally agree persecution of raptors has to stop. Land owners are the biggest problem, keepers are basically their stooges. They have to be held to account, for their keepers actions. Shut the moor down for a season, if needed, hit them in the pocket. But for christ sake dont get rid of grouse shooting altogether!, they will become sterile sheep walk in no time!, ive seen it happen many times. Anti this and anti that solves little, foxes and badgers are a prime example, they have massacred waders in my area, keeping numbers down of these predators is vital. Same with crows and magpies!, grey squirrels and dare i say it pet and feral cats. Put a bell on em, if u have one. Man has ruined most natural habitat and upset the natural balance, so unfortunately we have to manage it correctly. Sorry if ive upset the anti brigade!, but common sense is needed.
Sorry John, you’re right it was Matt that commented that harriers don’t spread. We don’t disagree vastly except I am absolutely willing to support a total ban on driven grouse shooting unless they change their ways – a lot! I refuse to be held to ransom by the “vermin or curlew” argument. I actually like the model of small scale shooting syndicates with some killing of foxes and crows, but I oppose the intensive & exploitative industrial scale state of things as is. Get rid of the big monolithic landowners trying to out-do one another and “smash records” while cranking up their estates capital value, then perhaps a better model of mixed use upland management (including some modest bag “Ordinary Joe” shooting) can be achieved? Everything is to play for and fight for and justify.
IMO, it is not just a binary proposition of which do you want: “Total DGS but with breeding waders in spring & summer” or “Total Vermin Armageddon”. That is the proposition that the industry wants you to believe is the two only choices out there. I know that there is a lot more to it than that.
You comments are unswervingly wrong. Let’s blame badgers and foxes: forget the fact that approximately 50% of badgers have been killed in the last 15 years based on nonsense science, forget the fact that even the representatives of the fox hunting fraternity (of psychos) have complained that rural fox numbers have fallen by over 40% in the last 10 years, and forget the fact that if the shooting industry stop releasing tens of millions of game birds, leaving carcasses to keep generalist predator numbers artificially inflated, which could easily be resolved by reducing pheasant and partridge numbers to one third of what they currently are or, better still, to about one tenth, i.e. about the number that actually enter the human food chain or, better still, ban shooting and go to farming them as one does chickens, turkeys etc. the number of generalist predators would fall significantly.
Forget the fact that grouse moorland is not the right habitat for any species other than Red Grouse in the UK and start providing the proper habitat for Lapwing, Redshank, Golden Plover, Curlew etc, with the other changes suggested, we wouldn’t have any of these problems and those that still exists can be dealt with proportionately and sensibly as the RSPB do: killing predators as a last resort.
Simon a lot of what you say is right, unfortunately we have 60 million people in england!, instead of a more balanced population of say 20 million. And that just throws the natural balance out of orbit. The amount of supermarkets spread throughout the country is ridiculous!, and ive seen the destruction of marshes etc, in turkey, simply to provide for them. Hunting is and always will be in many peoples blood, ( not mine by the way ), and is far less damaging than modern living. We also are highly likely to have a reform government in power next time. Which no doubt!, will have many members of the hunting fraternity in its midst. So better to strike a balance, and preserve best we can. Sadly management of land and natural resources, is all we have to go on, unless we get rid of 40 million people overnight!, i cant see that, can u
Good comments Sphagnum and Swaledale just ban driven grouse shooting and hunting and leave wildlife alone to thrive unpersecuted.
Never in my life have I read such utter bollox! The Hen Harrier MUST be reintroduced throughout the entire country. DEFRA has clearly caved in to pressure from ‘nimby’ (and southern) dross, who are the ones who ought to be shot. Pathetic. Downright pathetic.
There WILL , one day, be Hen Harriers ALL OVER GREAT BRITAIN! Get used to that, because it’s INEVITABLE! So suck it up, scumbag who wrote that long winded tripe, SUCK IT UP. 🤨🇬🇧🪶
I’m sure that I read that 85% of harriers that fledged this year in England came from managed grouse moors or is this incorrect?
Hi Paul, you may well have read it, but that doesn’t mean it’s accurate!
This year’s breeding results have not yet been published – we’re waiting for Natural England’s announcement.
However, in 2024 there were only five successful Hen Harrier breeding attempts on privately-owned grouse moors in England, out of a total of 25 successful breeding attempts across all habitats in England. That’s 20%, not 85%.
There was a sudden drop in breeding success on privately-owned grouse moors between 2023-2024. This coincided with the end of the brood meddling trial. Natural England reported “the declines were most noticeable in parts of the North Pennines and the Yorkshire Dales, regions where hen harriers tend to nest in areas managed for grouse shooting“.
Last year the grouse shooting industry blamed bad weather for the sudden drop in the number of breeding Hen Harriers on privately-owned grouse moors, although bad weather didn’t stop Hen Harriers breeding on United Utilities land in Bowland, the RSPB’s Geltsdale Reserve in Cumbria or Forestry England land at Kielder.
We await the 2025 breeding season results with interest.