Following on from the publication of the RSPB’s latest report on the illegal killing of birds of prey in the UK (Patterns of Persecution, published last week), the BBC has released an eight minute film documenting the issue.
The BBC’s Climate Editor, Justin Rowlatt, joined members of the RSPB’s Investigations team in the field and in the office.
The RSPB repeats its calls for a licensing system for gamebird shooting, whilst Dr Marnie Lovejoy from BASC argues against it because, er, ‘it’s all so unfair’ (I’m paraphrasing, of course).
Available to watch on YouTube:
Raptor Persecution UK 
Still think they should go further and ban all bird shooting in Britain, just can’t understand the mindset of people bringing down a live bird and that goes for wildfowling too
I’m plessed that the BBC. at last seems to be taking a realistic view of raptor prosecution. They have up until now been only too willing to spout the views and lies of the organised criminals behind behind this, particularly those in the upper echelons of society.
Long may it continue, but I will judge this by their future conduct.
It’s good that this is getting some coverage, by the BBC, although it is far too little, far too late. I can remember full length documentaries in the 1970s about the illegal raptors on keepered grouse moors. It led to public outrage, and led to the shooting organizations changing their names and disingenuously renaming themselves, adding “conservation” in their titles. Along with manufacturing the clever lie that it is a tiny minority of bad apples. The satellite tagging of Hen Harriers and Eagle, which proves this persecution is very widespread on grouse moors, to the point where it is probably universal. It is impossible with it being on this scale, that there is not similar widespread knowledge of it in the shooting industry and wider shooting world. So everyone with shooting connections, who asserts this, is a knowing liar. It is a contrivance.
The only way to deal with this, is much tougher punishments, considerable prison sentences, with minimum sentence, without strongly mitigating factors, and this must be cooperation with the authorities, in naming all those who put them up to this and have knowledge of it. It’s funny because governments know how to do this. They have done it will all sorts of other crimes, but strangely they forget how to do it with illegal raptor persecution. It’s like with drug crime, where the police and courts only prosecute small level street dealers, and ignore the importers of illegal drugs and those distributing them. Keepers etc, are low level people in this organized crime, and are only following orders. If they want a career in the shooting industry, they have to do what they are told to. Those directing this organized crime, in essence have total immunity from the law, because it is set up in such a way, that only gamekeeper, those actually killing the raptors can be prosecuted.
I’d like to state this in another comment. Again, and again, I hear the falsehood, that protected raptors are persecuted because they prey on game birds and the chicks. This is absolutely not true, or not the primary reason that raptors and other predators are persecuted. It fails to understand the mindset and motivation of shoot managers. Yes, this is partly true, but partial truths can be far more misleading than outright lies. The aim of the manager of an intensive shoot, managed for driven shooting, is to eliminate all predators, regardless of whether they prey on game birds, to a significant level. The aim is not to reduce the levels of predation, but to make them a predator free zone. Hence, them killing Kestrels, Tawny Owls, Short-eared Owls, Merlin, Buzzards and even Hobbies, or Red-footed Falcons if they see them.
The aim of a shoot manager on a driven shoot, is to produce the maximum density of game birds possible. Naturally, game birds will disperse in response to the presence of predators. The shoot manager is desperate to keep those game birds on their shoot. Hence, why Pheasants are fed, and heather burning to produce the maximum number of heather shoots. Naturally, when there is an unnatural density of game birds present, predators are attracted, even if just to scavenge dead ones. The natural response of the game birds, is to disperse, in response to the presence of predators, where they are lost for the shoot. The reason it is so vitally important to understand this, is that things like diversionary feeding etc, are not of interest to shoot managers, as the mere presence of predators causes the game birds to disperse, even if they are no real threat to them. The lying shooting industry pretends they just want to lower predator predation as this is more socially acceptable. No, they are trying to eliminate all predators on their managed shoot.