This is a blog about one of those dead Hen Harriers for whom we’ve been waiting over a year for Natural England to confirm the cause of death.
The young Hen Harrier in question (Tag ID: 254843) was fitted with a satellite tag when she was a nestling in Northumberland on 5 July 2024.
In Natural England’s HH spreadsheet that was updated in August 2024, her status was given as follows:
Date of last contact: 29 July 2024
Location of last contact: Northumberland
OS reference: Recovered awaiting PM
Status: Dead
There were no further details provided until 14 months later, when Natural England quietly updated its spreadsheet in October 2025. This bird’s status was now given as follows:
Date of last contact: 29 July 2024
Location of last contact: Northumberland
OS reference: NY824937
Status: Dead
Notes on Loss: The recovered carcass was not suitable for any PM owing to level of decomposition
The grid reference places the last location in an upland area of Northumberland National Park, to the north east of Kielder Water. This area of moorland is not known to be a raptor persecution hotspot – indeed it’s one of the few strongholds for Hen Harrier breeding attempts in England – and there was nothing in Natural England’s spreadsheet notes to suggest she had been killed illegally. So we’re led to conclude it was a probable natural death.
But hang on a minute.
I’ve recently found a fascinating blog posted within the depths of the National Wildlife Crime Unit’s (NWCU) website that tells a very different story. It was published on 10 October 2025 and is entitled, ‘Cracking the Case: How Experts Uncovered the Truth Behind a Hen Harrier’s Mysterious Death‘.
The original blog can be read here, and I’ve copied it here incase the link is broken in the future:
When a young female hen harrier known as 254843 took her first flights over the moorlands of Otterburn, Northumbria, in July 2024, she became part of a vital conservation effort. Fitted with a satellite tag by Natural England (NE), this small device would help scientists track her journey, monitor her wellbeing, and contribute to the protection of one of the UK’s most threatened birds of prey.
But just weeks later, her signal stopped. What initially appeared to be a tragic but natural loss of a young bird soon revealed something far more sinister and set in motion a remarkable multi-agency investigation into suspected wildlife crime.
When NE staff noticed that 254843’s satellite tag had stopped transmitting, they followed established procedures to locate her. The bird’s remains were found roughly 1.2 kilometres from her nest close to where she had been learning to hunt under her parents’ watchful eyes. At first, the team suspected natural predation.
However, during recovery, one small detail caught their attention — a small, round dent and hole in the satellite tag. It was an anomaly that couldn’t be ignored.
This discovery triggered the involvement of the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) and the Harrier Task Force (HTF). Working closely with Natural England, the Northumbria Police Rural Crime Team, and scientific experts, they began piecing together what had really happened.
The first step was to send the remains and the tag to the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) for a detailed postmortem. Due to the bird’s advanced decomposition, the pathologists couldn’t confirm a cause of death, but their findings were enough to justify further forensic testing.
From there, the investigation moved to Nottingham Trent University (NTU), where specialists used CT scanning and chemical analysis to examine the damaged tag. Their results revealed elevated levels of lead around the hole a crucial clue pointing toward a lead-based projectile.
Finally, the tag was analysed by a ballistics expert from the Scottish Police Authority (SPA). The verdict: the damage was consistent with being struck by a shotgun pellet, likely from a birdshot cartridge fired from below the flying bird. Tests confirmed traces of lead, and the impact trajectory supported the theory of a shotgun discharge at an estimated distance of up to 30 metres.
The conclusion was clear. This was no accident of nature. It was a deliberate act of wildlife crime.
Thanks to the combined expertise of scientists, conservationists, and law enforcement, the incident has been officially recorded as criminal damage. Each satellite tag costs around £2,800, not including the significant resources dedicated to fitting and monitoring them but the real loss is far greater, representing another blow to hen harrier conservation efforts.
The investigation also led to important lessons for future responses. New procedures now ensure that if anything suspicious is discovered during a bird recovery — no matter how small — the process halts immediately, and police take over to conduct a forensic recovery. This prevents potential evidence from being lost and strengthens the chance of bringing perpetrators to justice.
This case demonstrates the high level of skill, coordination, and dedication required to detect and investigate wildlife crime. From the precision of CT imaging and chemical testing to the meticulous work of forensic ballistics experts and the vigilance of conservation field teams every partner plays a crucial role.
It also serves as a reminder that wildlife crime is not victimless. Each illegal act damages not only individual animals but also the broader ecosystem and the tireless efforts of those working to protect it.
The public can play their part too. If you have any information about this incident or any suspected wildlife crime please report it.
Every report helps protect the wild places and species that make our countryside unique and ensures that those who threaten them are held accountable.
ENDS
It’s clear from the NWCU blog the extent of the effort, by multiple partners, to determine what happened here, and I applaud them for it.
I’m less impressed that this information hasn’t been given the media attention it deserves, nor that a link to the NWCU blog hasn’t been added to Natural England’s spreadsheet entry about the circumstances surrounding this Hen Harrier’s death. It really isn’t difficult.
I’m also interested that the NWCU blog states, “…the incident has been officially recorded as criminal damage“. This is presumably in reference to the shotgun damage caused to the satellite tag.
I wonder, though, how the death of Hen Harrier 254843 has been officially recorded…’Unknown’? ‘Suspicious’? ‘Illegally killed’?
The blog says, “The conclusion was clear. This was no accident of nature. It was a deliberate act of wildlife crime”. So why doesn’t Natural England’s spreadsheet reflect this?
Raptor Persecution UK 
Am I to assume that the bullet passed through the bird, as, no matter how decomposed the carcass, if it hadn’t passed through, it would still be there?
As regards media coverage, tip-offs to the right outlets, following pm results etc. might be the way forward. Informing the public is KEY.
“Am I to assume that the bullet passed through the bird, as, no matter how decomposed the carcass, if it hadn’t passed through, it would still be there?”
Not bullet: pellet(s) from a shotgun cartridge, and clearly not there because they would show up in the x-ray. Any meat/bone containing pellets may(?) have been removed/consumed by carrion eaters? I can’t really tell if the entire skeleton is even there? I would say not.
“Informing the public is KEY.”
Agree 100%
Many congratulations on discovering/uncovering this. Makes Natural England look bad, if not shifty.
Typical of societies’ attitude to wildlife crime: a “the incident has been officially recorded as criminal damage. Each satellite tag costs around £2,800, not including the significant resources dedicated to fitting and monitoring them” but no one can put a price on the loss of the miracle of DNA:-(
One small point: photos numbered 4 and 5 have incorrect Hen Harrier Tag ID – typo errors. [Ed: thanks, now amended]
Given that it is implied that this bird had only just started flying, it seems probable that it had never even moved out of its natal area. Therefore the tag cannot have been struck by that shotgun pellet very far away from where the body was found. A radius of a very small few kilometres at most? And NE will have the full mapping of all of the location “pings” from the tag, will they not?
Also, if the harrier had pellets in it when it came to rest in that place (which in my personal opinion, I bet it will have) then those pellets will not have moved once they dropped from the tissue as the maggots/bugs did their thing, and some pellets may have been resting on the ground directly underneath that skeletal carcass*
*Of course the one thing that knocks that on the head is if the skeletal carcass was later carried / moved around by a fox/scavenger.
But I do hope whoever picked it up & bagged it in first instance had the training and/or time & attention to thoroughly search the ground under the skeleton with fingertip & eyeball, or perhaps a metal detector also.
Coming from a different background, if I were involved I would bring back soil, perhaps a bucket-full, and pan it in the manner of gold recovery, Any lead (or other possible dense shot) should be easily found. Perhaps someone might suggest this approach to NE for future cases?
Sounds interesting idea. I suppose it comes down to their time & resources. If they didn’t initially notice the pellet hole in the tag they might have – with fair reason – just gone “oh, a bloody fox or stoat has had it” and bagged the corpse up and headed home. Begs the question on whether every dead tagged harrier or every eagle found is currently (or should be in future) initially always treated with same evidence gathering protocol of being a potential crime scene? I don’t know much about this.
Roger that. Photo 2 shows the SatNav on top and tilted, a hole evident. It takes twenty minutes to process a pan of soil, thirty for a beginner. Eight pans at most. Does need a constant flow of water, or possibly a tub. A morning’s work?
Do NE people follow this blog? Push a discrete marker into the soil at the location, take a SatNav fix and a photo so you can return to same point ought to be SOP.
So, tagged on 05/07/24 and presumed shot just 24 days later. The poor bird must have only recently fledged. It comes as a major disappointment that this has occurred in what was regarded as one of the safer places in the English Uplands.
Excellent work by the experts in various fields to interpret the evidence to establish what has actually occurred – this brilliant teamwork being the one good thing to have come out of this sorry story. Not so good by NE, though, in once again quietly slipping out significant information without specific announcement. Not for the first time recently I’m wondering just what game they are playing and who is setting the rules. Tony Juniper needs to get a grip on this sooner rather than later.
Full marks too to Ruth for unravelling the various strands of this story and drawing the link between the NE and NWCU website entries.
Whomever’s side Natural England is on, it’s certainly not birds of prey, or the multiple organisations trying to prevent their illegal persecution, what exactly is their purpose again?
So if the shot bird decayed or was scavenged in situ, might there be more shotgun pellets in the soil at that location? Did anyone from NE think to look?
Don’t be too hard on NE. My source tells me that they’ve recently lost a lot of good quality dedicated staff who were on short term contracts. Their work has fallen back onto the already overloaded permanent staff. There are hundreds of SSSIs that have not been inspected for years and no one would know if some still existed. Unfortunately nature and the environment are at the back of the qué when the money is handed out.
“Unfortunately nature and the environment are at the back of the qué when the money is handed out.”
Indeed:-( We all know what the current Government thinks about ‘nature’ and what they propose to do about it.