Derbyshire Police Rural Crime Team posted the following on Facebook on 3 December 2025:
WILDLIFE CRIME AWARENESS – INJURED PEREGRINE
Between 01/09/25 – 08/09/25, we received a report from the Youlgrave [Youlgreave] area that a peregrine falcon had been sadly shot.
After x-rays it showed that the incident caused the bird’s wing to shatter.
Thankfully, this story doesn’t end in tragedy — the peregrine is alive and currently undergoing rehabilitation.
This post is a reminder that peregrines are legally protected, and it is a criminal offence to intentionally injure or kill them under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
If you witness wildlife crime or anything suspicious:
Report via 101 or 999
Or report online https://orlo.uk/reportacrime_C7Dn3
If you have any information relating to this incident, please quote 25*580157
Together, we can protect our wildlife
ENDS
It’s not known where or when this Peregrine was shot, but given the extent of its injuries it’s unlikely to have been able to fly far from that location.
I don’t know why it’s taken Derbyshire Constabulary three months to appeal for information on a supposed priority wildlife crime.
Raptor Persecution UK 
Our wildlife crimes units and NGOs are useless, it seems that no-one connected with these crimes actually wants to solve them and bring the perpetrators to justice, just how powerful are these landowners?
That’s a bit of a generalisation. Over the past two years there have been several high profile raids mounted jointly by the Police, Natural England, and RSPB officers at rural sites where suspected wildlife crimes , particularly persecution of raptors, was suspected. I know certain individuals working in senior positions in our National Parks and National Landscapes who are incensed by raptor persecution in their patches and aren’t shy about saying so publicly.
I found a freshly dead Buzzard on 07/07/21 just outside Youlgrave, which, after an investigation, was found to have “a level of Brodifacoum in its liver of an amount that will have contributed to its death. This is a second generation rodenticide often associated with secondary poisoning – I.e rats that have been poisoned are then fed on by the bird of prey. It is only supposed to be used in and around buildings but unfortunately these conditions aren’t always adhered to and we are seeing it causing increasing issues with raptors”. That quote was from RSPB investigations team member. I don’t live in Youlgreve, just out there for a walk in the White Peak. So, at the time I found the bird I did an internet search and found that at least two Youlgrave parishioners had been concerned to find sick or dead Buzzards in the area in the few years previous.
The relevant authorities have figures showing the escalation of deaths attributable to SGARs, especially brodifacoum, yet fail to take any meaningful action to prevent it causing the deaths of scavenging species such as Red Kites and Common Buzzards. Pheasant shoots are major users of these substances, used to counter the populations of rats attracted by food provided for their birds, as are farmers. I have come across users who have an apparently genuinely held belief that some of these newer poisons do not ‘second kill’ (ie do not act as secondary poisons in the manner described above by Wendy), having had them recommended by existing users on this basis. This is clearly dangerous misinformation which probably causes an exaggerated level of application and which needs to be effectively countered.
“The relevant authorities have figures showing the escalation of deaths attributable to SGARs, especially brodifacoum, yet fail to take any meaningful action to prevent it causing the deaths of scavenging species such as Red Kites and Common Buzzards.”
There was a consultation on the renewal of anticoagulant rodenticides by the HSE last summer: not well publicised to wildlife groups:-(
Yes, I was aware of that, having attempted to contribute.
And on top of that, for those minded towards skulduggery – this is a ready-made “plausible excuse” when scavenging species start turning up dead from having fed on “legally poisoned”* rats that were in fact deliberately placed in locations where scavenging birds would get them.
*no great challenge to add “a bit extra” to the corpses of an unlimited number of already poisoned dead rats and put them out as baits, or to the corpses of rats killed by other means purely for this devious purpose.
Perhaps a Derbyshire resident can complain to the IOPC over the three months’ delay.