Author: RaptorPersecutionUK

Gamekeeper fined for shooting short-eared owl on Leadhills Estate, South Lanarkshire

A gamekeeper was convicted of shooting a short-eared owl on a Lanarkshire grouse moor in May 2004.

The 23 year old gamekeeper (name removed under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974) who works for a shoot on Abington Farms Estate (often known as the Leadhills Estate), appeared at Lanark Sheriff Court on 31 July 2005. Two local bird of prey workers told the court how they had seen a short-eared owl fly up from the heather as the keeper drove across the moor on a quad bike. They saw the keeper stop the bike, take out his shotgun and walk towards the spot where the owl had settled on the hillside. When it flew up, he fired three shots at it and it fell to the ground. He collected the spent shotgun cartridges, but failed to find the owl.

After a search of the heather, the two witnesses found the bird, still alive but badly injured. It died a few minutes afterwards. They had recognized the keeper, and used a mobile phone to call Police Wildlife Crime Officer Phil Briggs. Within minutes the Strathclyde Police helicopter was searching the moor, but no one could be found. The keeper was later detained at his home, where clothing was recovered matching the description provided by the witnesses.

The keeper was convicted of killing a short-eared owl under section 1(1)(a)of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, and fined £500. It was his first conviction.

He remained employed on the estate. The area has a long history of confirmed and alleged cases of bird of prey poisoning and persecution.

Short-eared owls nest on the ground and feed almost exclusively on small mammals such as voles. They pose no threat to game birds.

Gamekeeper guilty of poisoning at Blythe Farm, nr lauder, Scottish Borders

In August 2006, a police raid on Blythe Farm, near Lauder in the Scottish Borders, led to the discovery of pheasant baits laced with poison (carbofuran) as well as several illegal cage traps baited with live pigeons to lure in birds of prey.

In April 2007, gamekeeper George “Doddie” Aitken was found guilty at Selkirk Sheriff Court. Sheriff Kevin Drummond sentenced him to 220 hours community service. A gamekeeper for 20 years, Aitken, who had turned up to court wearing a black balaclava, was allowed to keep his job. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/6719505.stm

In January 2008, the owner of Blythe Farm, James McDougal, became the first landowner to be punished for the crimes committed by his gamekeeper. His agricultural subsidies were cut by £7,919 for his failure to protect wildlife. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jan/07/ruralaffairs.scotland

goshawk shot in North Yorkshire

The dead goshawk.

Although the main focus of this blog is raptor persecution in Scotland, we will also be documenting incidents in other parts of the UK.

In early March 2010, a young goshawk was killed in Bransdale, North Yorkshire. An x-ray revealed the bird had been shot. A police investigation is underway.

According to a 2009 report by the RSPB, North Yorkshire has the worst record for raptor persecution incidents in England.

http://www.maltonmercury.co.uk/news/Anger-after-Goshawk-shot-in.6117021.jp

2 golden eagles poisoned in Kingussie, Strathspey

An adult female golden eagle and her chick were found dead on the nest in Kingussie, Strathspey in August 1999. Post mortem results revealed they had been posioned by Carbofuran.

No arrests have been made.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/422629.stm

Golden eagle & buzzard found poisoned on West Glenalmond Estate, Perthshire

In October and December 1998, a dead golden eagle and a buzzard were found on the Glenalmond Estate in Perthshire. The carcass of a red grouse was found close by, and tests later showed it had been used as a poisoned bait. The golden eagle had been killed by ingesting the illegal pesticide, Yaltox.

In Perth Sheriff Court in December 2000, a local gamekeeper was acquitted of all charges. He was also acquitted of further charges related to laying poisoned baits for either a peregrine or a golden eagle.

News story here

white-tailed sea eagle found poisoned on Turnalt Farm, Kilmelford, Argyll

The dead sea eagle lies slumped over the posioned lamb bait

A dead white-tailed sea eagle was found slumped over a lamb carcass on Turnalt Farm, Kilmelford, Argyll, in May 2002. Tests showed it had been posioned with chloralose. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/scotland/1971648.stm

http://news.scotsman.com/news/Rare-sea-eagle-was-poisoned.2324749.jp

A golden eagle was found poisoned on the same farm in February 2002. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1971648.stm

inquiry after buzzard shot dead in Aberdeenshire

In May 2007, Police appealed for information after a buzzard was shot dead in Aberdeenshire.

The bird was recovered in woodland near St Cyrus, and an X-ray showed four shotgun pellets in its body.

Grampian Police believe it may have been shot several months earlier, and said various lines of inquiry were being pursued.

Buzzards are protected under law and offenders can be jailed for up to six months or fined up to £5,000.

Grampian Police Wildlife Crime Officer Pc Dave MacKinnon said: “I am appealing to anyone who may have information about this incident or the illegal killing of protected species to come forward with their information.”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/north_east/6611821.stm

gin traps and a poisoned buzzard found on balmanno estate, perthshire

After several poisoning incidents in the Glenfarg area of Perthshire over a number of years, a buzzard poisoned by carbofuran was found on the Balmanno Estate in November 2001.

Tayside Police, the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department and the RSPB searched the shooting estate, as well as the premises of the gamekeeper, on 15 March 2002, under powers of the Food and Environment Act. On the estate, they found a freshly dead crow, which was later found to contain carbofuran. At the keeper’s premises they found a small quantity of carbofuran, a small egg collection and several gin traps with pieces of fur on the jaws. The keeper was detained and admitted that he had used the gin traps to take fox cubs. Admissions were also made in relation to the buzzard’s egg.

A poisoned buzzard

After many hearings, stretching back to an original trial date of 19 November 2002, the keeper changed his pleas to guilty. On 12 November 2003, at Perth Sheriff Court, he pleaded guilty to charges of possession of carbofuran in an unlabelled container, possession of several gin traps for use against foxes and possession of one buzzard egg.

The Procurator Fiscal accepted a ‘not guilty’ plea to poisoning a crow with carbofuran. The keeper was fined £250.

 

In Scotland, gin traps were only banned for use against foxes in 1974; in England and Wales, they were banned in 1958.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/Images/23-0617-03-04_legal%20eagle40%20v2_tcm9-132963.pdf

Gamekeeper convicted of poisoning 5 buzzards at tillyrie farm, perthshire.

On 21st November 2001, at Perth Sheriff Court, a gamekeeper was convicted of placing a bait containing carbofuran at Tillyrie Farm, Milnathort, Perthshire,  poisoning five buzzards and a carrion crow and possessing the banned substance carbofuran for the purpose of committing offences against the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. He was also convicted of illegal carbofuran storage under the Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986.

He was fined a total of £2,400.

 At the time of the offence, the keeper leased the shooting rights at Tillyrie Farm and ran it as a pheasant shoot. Tillyrie Farm is owned by racehorse trainer Dorothy Thompson, who praised her gamekeeper by saying, “He makes a very good job of rearing the birds [pheasants] and wildlife on the estate has increased for the better”.

The keeper subsequently appealed his conviction at the High Court of Judiciary Appeal, Edinburgh, in September 2003. The appeal was unsuccessful and the keeper was ordered to pay the original £2,400 imposed by the Court.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1339741/Gamekeeper-denies-coffee-jar-poisoning-of-buzzards.html

Golden eagle found poisoned on Cawdor Estate, Invernesshire

A golden eagle found dead on Cawdor Estate, Invernesshire, on 6 August 2001 had been poisoned by Carbofuran. The dead eagle’s decomposed remains were found by a hillwalker.

Cawdor Estate Factor John Higson and Head Gamekeeper Roddy Forbes denied any wrong-doing and suggested that the dead eagle could have been brought in by someone in their rucksack and planted on the estate to cause trouble. This explanation is commonly used by Alex Hogg, Chairman of the Scottish Gamekeepers Association, to account for the numbers of dead raptors that turn up on shooting estates. Our sources suggest that recent DNA evidence has proven these claims unfounded.

Since 1988, there have been six other incidents involving the illegal use of poisons connected to the Cawdor Estate. These include:

1988: A pet labrador dies after consuming the deadly poison, strychnine, while walking on Cawdor estate.

1992: A buzzard, magpie and sheep all laced with strychnine are discovered on the estate.

1993: A buzzard found poisoned by the toxin, alphachloralose, on Forestry Commission land 100 metres from the boundary of Cawdor estate.

1994: Three buzzards and rabbit bait found poisoned by alphachloralose on Cawdor.

1996: Three baits discovered containing poisons: a hare laced with alphachloralose, a goat with aldicarb and a wigeon with strychnine.

1996: A hidden pit containing a suspected birds of prey poisoning kit uncovered by investigators three miles from Cawdor Castle.

1999: A report sent to the procurator fiscal alleging that mountain hares were illegally persecuted in snares.

2000: A second report submitted to the fiscal claiming mistreatment of hares.

2001: A dead eagle found on Cawdor estate confirmed to contain the lethal poison, carbofuran.

No convictions have been made as it has not been possible to identify the individual who laid the bait.

For further information: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20010826/ai_n13961693/?tag=content;col1