Author: RaptorPersecutionUK

Buzzard found shot dead in North York Moors National Park

Yet another buzzard has been found shot dead in the North York Moors National Park according to a tweet by the brilliant Jean Thorpe, wildlife rehabber extraordinaire, on 5 June 2019:

“Shotgun shot buzzard Bransdale Moor, North Yorkshire. National Trust land. Any info please to PC Jez Walmsley, Wildlife crime officer Malton. Yet ANOTHER”.

The x-ray is a bit hard to comprehend, although the spine is clear as is at least one shotgun pellet.

We haven’t been able to find out any further information about this crime.

It’s not the first time raptors have been found illegally killed here. In 2010 a shot goshawk was found at Bransdale (see here) and a post mortem reportedly revealed it had also been poisoned (see here).

In 2012 a walker crossing the moorland in Bransdale found a dead sparrowhawk, also reported to have been shot (see here).

The National Trust owns the land in the valley in Bransdale, ‘surrounded by dramatic open moorland’ which has been described elsewhere as ‘the premier grouse shooting estate in the North York Moors area‘ and ‘one of the country’s most prolific grouse moors‘. Obviously it’s not known whether the buzzard was shot on National Trust property, or on the surrounding grouse moors, or even further further afield and then collapsed at Bransdale.

What is known is that this is yet another raptor persecution crime in North Yorkshire, inside the North York Moors National Park.

Why hasn’t this crime been publicised?

Revive conference, Sat 3rd August, Perth: registration now open

Revive, the coalition for grouse moor reform in Scotland is hosting a one-day conference in support of Hen Harrier Day.

Saturday 3rd August 2019, 10am-4.30pm, Perth Theatre (PH1 5HZ).

The event is free but spaces are limited to ~200  due to the venue so pre-registration is required.

The programme will be released in due course but you can expect presentations from the Revive Directors and staff and discussion panels including guests from other prominent environmental NGOs.

To register for this event please see HERE.

Wild Justice launches new legal challenge against Natural England’s General Licence 26

The campaign group Wild Justice has launched a second legal challenge against Natural England’s new General Licence (GL26), in so far as it relates to the killing of Carrion Crows to protect Pheasants.

Wild Justice’s legal team (Leigh Day) sent a pre-action protocol letter to Natural England and DEFRA last Friday. You can find a copy of that letter on the Wild Justice blog here.

Dr Mark Avery, one of the Directors of Wild Justice said:

“Licence GL26 is a shoddy document. It is scientifically threadbare and, we contend, legally flawed. It does not form a sound basis to justify widespread, unmonitored, unlimited control of Carrion Crows to protect livestock.

We are glad that Defra has promised a proper review of licensing of the killing of wild birds because, on the evidence of this licence, that killing often amounts to unjustified casual killing.

We call upon Defra to announce the date and substance of that review as quickly as possible so that these matters can properly be examined before 2020’s licences are issued. 

We also repeat our call to Defra not to issue any general licences to allow the lethal control of Jay, Jackdaw, Rook or Magpie for the purpose of protecting wild birds. 

But now we are asking for the elements of GL26 which relate to protection of Pheasants and other gamebirds to be quashed and those elements which relate to other livestock to be thoroughly scrutinised in the review of general licences promised by Defra”.

Natural England (and/or DEFRA) has to respond to the pre-action protocol letter within 14 days (by 4pm on 21 June 2019).

Chris Packham: “Change is coming”

There’s a five-page news feature on Chris Packham and Wild Justice in the June edition of BBC Wildlife.

Features Editor Ben Hoare interviewed Chris about Wild Justice’s legal challenge to Natural England’s General Licences, about Crowgate, death threats, science and agriculture.

We’ve been asked not to publish the article in its entirety but the magazine is now on sale for those who want to read more.

Here are a few excerpts:

“Crowgate has exposed the fact that a percentage of those opposed to what we are doing are very unpleasant bullies. They’re not people who want a rational discussion in any creative form, they’re people who want to intimidate, bully, suppress, terrorise….”

“I’ve never been anti-shooting, you know, not at a fundamental level“.

“Let’s keep one thing at the forefront of our minds. Crows and other predators are not responsible for the declines in our farmland birds in any shape or form. What’s responsible, and it’s been proven without any ambiguity, is the intensification of agriculture. We know full well that early cutting for silage is decimating the curlew and lapwing population, as are practices such as rolling and topping and so on“.

“People who attack me verbally and issue threats are frightened. They’re cornered, so are lashing out. That’s to be expected, which is why I always say that this is just part of a process. It’s something I predicted would happen, and I predict it will get worse“.

“Change is coming“.

By happy coincidence, at the end of the editorial box titled ‘General Licences: where are we now?’, Ben Hoare writes:

‘A review of the licensing system is underway and Wild Justice has reserved the right to mount further legal challenges’.

Indeed. Watch this space!

‘Operation Owl’: new website launched to raise awareness of raptor persecution

Today sees the launch of the ‘Operation Owl‘ website, designed and administered by Police Supt Nick Lyall, Chair of the Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group (RPPDG).

Some of you may remember that ‘Operation Owl’ was the name of a regional, multi-agency raptor persecution crack-down in 2018, led by North Yorkshire Police (see here). Nick Lyall has now taken that proactive initiative and expanded it to become a nationwide campaign of awareness-raising, endorsed by the National Police Chiefs Council (in other words, it has crucial, high-level support).

The new website provides a good introduction and overview of the topic, especially for those who know nothing or little about the extent of illegal raptor persecution in the UK, and in that sense it’ll be a useful hub, offering links and resources to further reading for those who want to know more. Importantly, it also explains how to recognise, record and report suspected cases of illegal raptor persecution.

There’s a section on the RPPDG and the so-called ‘partnership’ effort, with links to the partners’ websites. It’s laughable that groups like the Moorland Association and Countryside Alliance are still members of this group – for how much longer remains to be seen – but until then it appears this charade of shared objectives will continue (but not by us).

There’s also a link to Nick Lyall’s RPPDG Chair blog (here) which is well worth bookmarking as he provides fairly frequent updates.

Full credit to Nick for driving forward Operation Owl and for all his other efforts, a lot of them going on behind the scenes at the moment. From what we’ve seen (probably just a fraction), his commitment to tackling raptor persecution is indefatigable.

Long may he stay in post.

Police appeal for info after suspected theft of Marsh harrier eggs in Norfolk

Norfolk Constabulary has issued an appeal for information following the suspected theft of two Marsh harrier eggs in Norfolk:

WILDLIFE APPEAL WALSINGHAM

Police are appealing for information following the theft of bird eggs from a nest near Wells-next-the-Sea.

It is believed that two Marsh Harrier eggs were removed from a nest on farm land in the Walsingham area last Saturday (1 June).

Anyone who may have been in the area at the time and seen anything suspicious should contact PC Jason Pegden at Wells police station on 101, or alternatively, contact the charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

ENDS 

Shameful Natural England due to begin hen harrier brood meddling

Natural England has announced its disgraceful plan to brood meddle hen harriers is due to begin imminently.

An article in today’s Guardian claims this controversial “trial” is ‘supported by conservation groups including the International Centre for Birds of Prey and the Hawk & Owl Trust‘. Of course it is! The ICBP is being paid to manage the brood meddling, and several Hawk & Owl Trust Board members are believed to be benefiting from this trial. These are hardly independent supporters!

The article fails to mention that no independent conservation organisation is supporting this “trial” because everyone recognises it as a sop to the grouse shooting industry that has been killing hen harriers for years, without sanction.

[Drawing by Gerard Hobley]

The article also includes a quote from Tony Juniper, the new Chair at Natural England:

“Conservation and protection of the hen harrier is at the heart of what we are doing in licensing this trial of brood management. This decision takes forward but one element in a far broader recovery strategy for the species.

Natural England is ready to take the next careful step, aware that the licensed activity and the research will rightly come under close scrutiny from the scientists on the advisory group, from ourselves as the licensing authority and by those both supportive of and opposed to this trial.

We, as an organisation, must pursue all options for an important bird such as the hen harrier, so that our children may enjoy this majestic species in the wild“.

How disappointing from someone who has been held in high regard by the conservation community for many many years. Conservation and protection is NOT “at the heart” of what Natural England is doing in licensing this trial – how can it be, when it knows from it’s own commissioned research that the main threat to hen harriers (illegal persecution by gamekeepers on grouse moors) will still be present when those young brood meddled harriers are released back to the wild later in the summer?

It’s our understanding that at least one of the nests under consideration for being brood meddled is on a grouse shooting estate that has a reputation for the illegal persecution of birds of prey, including an earlier conviction of at least one gamekeeper employee.

Who says crime doesn’t pay, eh?

Meanwhile, both Mark Avery and the RSPB are still waiting to hear whether their appeals against their earlier judicial review brood meddling rulings can proceed.

Revive conference in Scotland (in support of Hen Harrier Day) – 3rd August 2019

Revive, the coalition for grouse moor reform will be hosting a one-day conference on Saturday 3rd August in Perth, Scotland in support of Hen Harrier Day.

This will be a free event at the Perth Theatre but due to space restrictions it will be a ticketed event (~200 seats). You’ll be able to apply for tickets from Revive very soon.

There’ll be a number of speakers and presentations from the Directors of Revive and a number of expanded panel discussions and debates with representatives from partner organisations and agencies.

From 10am – 4.30pm, Saturday 3rd August.

Save the date!

More details to follow, hopefully early next week.

Raptor Persecution Awareness Day – 10th August 2019, North Yorkshire

This year the Northern England Raptor Forum (NERF) will once again be hosting a raptor persecution awareness day (Saturday 10th August) in support of Hen Harrier Day.

Last year NERF hosted an awareness day in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (a hotbed of illegal raptor persecution) and this year they’ll be in the North York Moors National Park, also a hotbed of raptor crime.

There’ll be a number of speakers and it’ll be a free, drop-in type event at The Goathland Hut, a community hub in Goathland, North Yorkshire.

More details to follow.

GWCT refuses to address accusation of deliberate misrepresentation

In March we blogged about how Andrew Gilruth of the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) had recently written letters to four media outlets (The Field, BBC Wildlife, The Scotsman, The Independent) and in each one he’d included the same quote, attributed to the RSPB, that would suggest to the reader that the RSPB is supportive of grouse moor management techniques:

“The RSPB has been clear that the ‘management of land for grouse shooting has protected upland areas from the worst of over-grazing and blanket conifer plantations, while generating income for upland communities and forming a uniquely British form of cultural land use‘”.

We showed that Andrew Gilruth had cherry-picked that particular quote, out of context, from a 2006 RSPB publication:

We argued that Andrew Gilruth’s cherry-picking activity appeared to be so deliberately deceptive that his motive must have been to mislead the public – a serious accusation for an organisation with charitable status, and especially for one that prides itself on its so-called scientific integrity.

Since March, we’ve complained to the GWCT about this apparent deceptive misrepresentation on three separate occasions; twice to Teresa Dent (Chief Executive) directly and when she didn’t reply we sent a complaint to her via GWCT’s general email address (info@gwct.org.uk). No response.

We then looked at the GWCT’s complaints policy (here), which opens with ‘We want to find out about things that have gone wrong so we can fix them and prevent things going wrong in the future‘.

However, bizarrely it seems this policy doesn’t apply to criticisms of GWCT’s media statements! Right at the bottom of the GWCT complaints policy it says this: ‘This policy does not cover comments made in the media‘.

Eh?