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Scottish Minister Jim Fairlie provides rationale behind proposed amendment to close loophole on grouse shoot licence

Earlier this month, the Scottish Government announced its commitment to closing the loophole on the grouse moor licences that were sabotaged last year by the powerful grouse shooting lobby.

If you recall, grouse moor licensing was introduced as part of the Wildlife Management & Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024, as a result of the continued illegal killing of birds of prey on grouse moors and the associated difficulties of identifying an individual suspect and prosecuting them.

The idea was that a licence to shoot Red Grouse could be amended / withdrawn / revoked by NatureScot if evidence showed that illegal raptor persecution had taken place (importantly, based on the civil burden of proof, i.e. balance of probability, rather than the criminal burden of proof, i.e. beyond reasonable doubt). It was expected that the licence would cover an estate’s entire landholding, not just the areas where Red Grouse are shot, because raptor persecution crimes often take place beyond the boundary of the moor (e.g. in woodland).

However, in November last year, the licences were significantly weakened after legal threats from the grouse shooting industry. Instead of now covering an entire estate, it was announced that the licence holder could decide on the extent of the area the licence covered, specifically the area where Red Grouse are ‘taken or killed’.

Effectively, this could mean simply drawing an arbitrary line around their grouse butts, denoting the reach of a shotgun pellet, and argue that THAT is the area where they take/kill grouse and thus that should be the extent of the licensable area:

Photo of a line of grouse-shooting butts by Richard Cross, annotated by RPUK

There has been a year of prolonged campaigning to get this loophole closed, mostly behind-the-scenes and led by Green MSP Mark Ruskell and RSPB Scotland – they deserve our gratitude because without their efforts, this loophole would have been left wide open.

When Minister Fairlie announced his intention to close the loophole, by introducing a proposed amendment to the Natural Environmental (Scotland) Bill which is currently making its way through Parliament, the precise details of his amendment were not known so although his announcement was welcomed, there was still some skepticism about whether the amendment would be fit for purpose.

The proposed amendment has now been published and Minister Fairlie has written a detailed explanation.

First, here’s the proposed amendment, which was lodged on 7 November 2025:

On first appearances, this looks to be pretty robust. Although it still offers room for ‘negotiation’ between the licensing authority (NatureScot) and the licence applicant about the extent of the licensable area, it is clear that if agreement is not reached, then NatureScot has the authority to refuse the licence application altogether.

That’s good, assuming that NatureScot will stand up to the powerful land-owning lobby. That’s by no means assured though, so we might expect that NatureScot’s decision-making process is laid out in writing so it is transparent for all those interested and fair to all licence applicants, in the same way that NatureScot has published the decision-making process it uses when assessing whether to impose a General Licence restriction on estates where there is evidence to support a suspicion of wildlife crime taking place.

Minister Fairlie’s amendment also removes the controversial issue of a reduced licensed area, rather than the licence applying to an estate’s entire landholding, as believed to be intended by Parliament when the Wildlife Management & Muirburn Act was passed. So instead of limiting the licensable area to only being applicable “on the land” [where Red Grouse are taken or killed], the amendment suggests that the licence could be withdrawn/revoked if a relevant offence takes place anywhere on the landholding “that supports or benefits the activities permitted by the licence“, i.e. grouse shooting.

It looks like this amendment will also bring back all the relevant offences that could result in a licence suspension/revocation, which were removed when NatureScot made changes to the licence in November last year (see here). This means that offences under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996, Conservation (Natural Habitats etc) Regulations 1994, Animal Health & Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006, Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023), would all come back in to play. Excellent.

After notifying the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs & Islands Committee (the committee scrutinising the Natural Environment Bill) of his intention to bring an amendment to close the grouse shoot licence loophole, Minister Fairlie was asked by the Committee Convenor to explain his rationale for his proposed amendment.

Minister Fairlie’s explanation is clear and well worth a read:

Fairlie letter to Committee_NE Bill Grouse Licensing amendment 11Nov2025Download

Amendments to the Natural Environment Bill stage 2 will be debated in Parliament next Wednesday (19 November 2025).

Hen Harrier ‘Susie’, whose chicks were stamped to death in 2022, has been found dead on a North Pennines grouse moor with gunshot injuries

If ever there was an example demonstrating the high level of persecution faced by Hen Harriers on UK grouse moors, the lack of consequences for the offenders, and the lack of justice for the victims, the short life of a Hen Harrier called ‘Susie’ illustrates it all.

Hen Harrier (photo by Pete Walkden)

Susie hatched in Cumbria in 2020 and was satellite-tagged by Natural England on 21 July 2020. She first bred in Bowland in 2021, and the following year she moved up to a grouse moor near Whernside in the Yorkshire Dales National Park where she produced four chicks.

The Whernside nest was being monitored (nest camera) by Natural England as part of the ludicrous Hen Harrier Brood Meddling Trial. On 20 June 2022, NE researchers noticed that Susie’s satellite tag was unexpectedly and abruptly shown tracking approximately 35km away from her nest. An adult female should be attentive and close to her nest during this period. Her sudden exit from the nest area was worrying.

The following day, Natural England field staff visited the nest and made the grim discovery of three dead Hen Harrier chicks.

Reviewing the nest camera footage, they saw that after dark, at 9.54pm on 15 June 2022, the camera showed the nest site appeared normal with Susie settled in the nest with her chicks. However, at 9.59pm a sudden irregular ‘whiteout’ of the camera occurred, blinding the camera.

The camera used was movement-activated, and it was not triggered again until the following morning when footage captured apparently dead chicks in the nest and Susie attempting to feed them.

She could be seen removing her dead chicks from the nest. Three of these were found just outside the nest, and it is not known where she deposited the fourth.

Post-mortem examinations of the three chicks were subsequently conducted and showed that each suffered with multiple fractured bones including the humerus in one chick, both femurs in the second chick, and in the third chick, the humerus and a crushed skull. The fractures were complete and showed a considerable trauma had taken place for each chick.

It’s quite clear that ‘someone’ had visited the nest, disabled the camera, and stamped the chicks to death.

Six months later (!), in December 2022, North Yorkshire Police laid out the evidence and issued an appeal for information (see here).

Representatives from the grouse shooting industry responded by trying to manipulate the narrative of this brutal and sadistic crime (see here) and of course, nobody came forward with any information that could identify the person / people responsible.

The following year, in 2023, the story featured in a three-episode podcast by The Guardian, called ‘Killing the Skydancer’ (here, here and here). Meanwhile, Susie bred successfully (unknown location) and fledged five chicks. It was to be her last breeding season.

In April 2024, Natural England published its latest update on the fate of its satellite-tagged Hen Harriers. It did so quietly, without any publicity whatsoever. Susie’s entry on that spreadsheet read,

‘Last known transmission 12 February 2024, Northumberland. Found dead. Site confidential. Recovered, awaiting post mortem’.

Nothing more was heard about Susie’s fate until a year later, in another spreadsheet update in April 2025. Susie’s entry now read:

‘Ongoing police investigation, final transmission location temporarily withheld at police request‘. 

Again, there was no publicity about Susie, or about any of the other Natural England-tagged Hen Harriers that had either ‘vanished’ or had been found dead in suspicious circumstances.

Over one and a half year’s after Susie was found dead, the details have finally emerged, and once again Natural England has slipped them out quietly, without fanfare or commentary, in its October 2025 spreadsheet update. Susie’s entry now reads:

‘Found dead 12 February 2024, Northumberland, Grid reference NY759585. Confirmed dead, had been victim of shooting. When found dead remains would not allow determination of whether the bird died as a result of being shot. Bird died between 25 November 2023 and 12 February 2024‘.

Susie’s corpse was found on a grouse moor in the North Pennines National Landscape (a so-called protected landscape, formerly known as the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, AONB), and the grid reference places her on what I believe to be the Whitfield Estate:

Susie had been shot at some point, but where, and when, is not known.

There is no suggestion that she was shot and killed on the Whitfield Estate – she could have been shot many months earlier and survived for a while before succumbing to her injuries. Without seeing the post mortem and x-ray results (which have not been published), it’s impossible to know whether her gunshot injuries caused any broken bones that could have impeded her ability to fly any distance.

That Susie was the victim of at least two separate persecution incidents (that we know about) during her three-and-a-half-year life, illustrates the severity of threat this species still faces in the UK. This should come as no surprise to anybody who has been following this blog for any length of time, nor to those who may have read the RSPB’s damning 2025 report, Hen Harriers in the Firing Line.

These appalling crimes continue because hardly anyone is ever brought to justice. There is rarely any consequence for the offenders, which gives them the green light to carry on.

There has been a change in tactics by the raptor killers in recent years, as we saw in the RSPB’s covert footage in Oct 2024 where three individuals were caught plotting, and then apparently shooting, a Hen Harrier on a grouse moor in Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. They specifically targeted the Hen Harrier that was not carrying a ‘box’ (a satellite tag) because they thought that by doing so their crime would be undetected. A gamekeeper is standing trial in January 2026 for his alleged involvement – he denies it – it will be up to the court to decide whether he was involved or not.

That case is a very uncommon prosecution, reliant on evidence provided by the RSPB’s excellent Investigations Team.

There won’t be a prosecution for the shooting of Hen Harrier Susie because there’s no evidence (that I’m aware of) that links an identified individual to that crime. Just as there was no prosecution of the person(s) responsible for stamping her chicks to death in their nest in 2022.

We all get it – finding sufficient evidence to prosecute those responsible for committing crimes in remote landscapes is incredibly difficult, but the investigating authorities could, and should, be doing much more to publicise these offences to raise awareness and help the general public spot suspicious activity.

The police’s appeal for information about the chick-stamping crime in the Yorkshire Dales National Park came six months after the event – that’s pathetic.

I haven’t seen ANY police appeal or press release about the shooting of Susie or the discovery of her corpse in Northumberland in February 2024. Not a single word.

Where is the publicity from the National Wildlife Crime Unit-led Hen Harrier Taskforce? The specialist group set up explicitly to tackle the ongoing illegal killing of Hen Harriers. Not a single word.

Where is the publicity from the police-led Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group (RPPDG), one of whose functions is apparently ‘awareness raising‘ and ‘raising the profile [of illegal raptor persecution] via media exposure‘? Not a single word.

Natural England has remained tight-lipped, as it always does, claiming that it requires the go-ahead from the police to issue any media. Why? Sure, in the early stages of a police investigation keeping quiet is often necessary to avoid alerting the perpetrator who may take the opportunity to remove/hide evidence before the police turn up. But 18+ months of silence, about a crime that relates to a publicly-funded project, and then to quietly slip out the information buried deep inside a spreadsheet?

Honestly, this needn’t be so bloody difficult.

X-ray reveals shotgun pellets embedded in ‘grounded’ Buzzard, Nottinghamshire

An x-ray of a grounded Buzzard has revealed two embedded shotgun pellets and a broken tail, according to Brinsley Animal Rescue in Nottinghamshire.

A statement published by the charity yesterday reads as follows:

‘Last Sunday we admitted a buzzard that had been found grounded, the caller had been struggling to find a rescue who were able to help and had them for several days before we took the call, thankfully they had been feeding the buzzard and keeping them safe.

On examination it was clear there they weren’t the best of condition not least the tail position, which was to the side and the bird wasn’t able to move it. X-rays have confirmed that not only was the tail broken, but there are several shot gun pellets lodged in the bird. It is probable that they have been shot and the broken tail is a result of the bird crash landing.

We have successfully treated and released birds with broken tails, but not a bird of prey, whilst the bones will eventually fuse, its vital that they have full mobility before they can be released and only time will tell if this ends well‘.

Photo and x-rays from Brinsley Animal Rescue

Shot Pheasants found dumped in Dorset

Another week and another pile of shot and dumped gamebirds.

Thanks to the blog reader who sent in this photo of a pile of dead, shot Pheasants he found yesterday, dumped on the road (B3081) running north of Wimbourne St Giles in Dorset.

If you look closely you’ll see what looks like green baler twine, indicative that these birds were probably shot on an organised shoot day, hung up (with the twine) and then distributed to shoot participants to take home, presumably to cook. But whoever was given these birds wasn’t interested in eating them – the ‘fun’ was all in the shooting.

Although given how many blood feathers are present in some of these young birds, their ability to fly would probably have been compromised before being blasted with a shotgun. It’s a strange idea of ‘fun’.

Regular blog readers will know that the dumping of shot gamebirds is a common and widespread illegal practice that has been going on for years, despite the repeated denials by the shooting industry. The disposal of animal by-products (including shot gamebirds) is supposedly regulated and the dumping of these carcasses is an offence.

Previous reports include dumped birds found in Cheshire (here), Scottish borders (here), Norfolk (here), Perthshire (here), Berkshire (here), North York Moors National Park (here) and some more in North York Moors National Park (here) and even more in North Yorkshire (here), Co. Derry (here), West Yorkshire (here), and again in West Yorkshire (here), N Wales (here), mid-Wales (here), Leicestershire (here), Lincolnshire (here), Somerset (here), Derbyshire’s Peak District National Park (here), Suffolk (here), Leicestershire again (here), Somerset again (here), Liverpool (here), even more in North Wales (here) even more in Wales, again (here), in Wiltshire (here) in Angus (here), in Somerset again (here), once again in North Yorkshire (here), yet again in West Yorkshire (here), yet again in mid-Wales (here), even more in mid-Wales (here), more in Derbyshire (here), Gloucestershire (here) more in Cheshire (here), some in Cumbria (here), some more in the Scottish Borders (here) and again in Lincolnshire (here), in Nottinghamshire (here), even more in Lincolnshire (here) and even more in the Scottish Borders (here).

Unless someone was seen dumping these shot gamebirds there’s no way of knowing who did it or from which gamebird shoot they originated, and therefore there’ll be no consequences for the person responsible. There’s no requirement for shoot managers to fit identifying markers to their livestock, which would make them traceable, because gamebird ‘livestock’ absurdly changes legal status to ‘wildlife’ as soon as the birds are released from the rearing pens for shooting (see Wild Justice’s blog on Schrodinger’s Pheasant for details).

Earlier today I blogged about the ‘significantly elevated threat‘ of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) and the compulsory housing orders now in place in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, in addition to increased biosecurity measures that everyone, including those who run gamebird shoots, are supposed to be undertaking to lessen the risk.

What’s the point, when irresponsible gamebird shooters keep dumping shot birds and leaving them to rot by the side of the road, putting wildlife at risk, especially birds of prey?

Compulsory housing orders across England, Wales & Northern Ireland to combat ‘significantly elevated threat’ of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)

Compulsory housing orders have been introduced across all of England, Wales and Northern Ireland in a bid to combat the ‘significantly elevated threat’ of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI, Bird Flu).

It was only a couple of weeks ago that a mandatory housing order was announced in a number of specified counties in England that were considered to be at high risk (see here) but this has now been extended to all counties in England, Wales and Northern Ireland as the number of outbreaks has increased.

Avian Influenza is a global public health concern, with high risk to humans, wildlife and domestic animals. Some scientists predict the virus will mutate to cause the next pandemic. Avian faecal samples being collected by the Wildlife Conservation Society in Mongolia for testing (Photo by Ruth Tingay)

The compulsory housing order in England came in to force on 6 November 2025 (see press release from Defra here), on 6 November 2025 in Northern Ireland (see press release from DAERA here), and will begin across Wales from 13 November 2025 (see press release from Welsh Government here).

In the last two weeks, outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza have been declared as follows:

ENGLAND

Nr Brandon, West Suffolk (AIV2025/72), 29 October 2025. Centred around grid ref TL8255580834.

Nr Silloth, Cumbria (AIV2025/73), 30 October 2025. Centred around grid ref NY1547552282.

Ormesby St Margaret, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk (AIV2025/76), 31 October 2025. Centred around grid ref TG4779815037.

Nr Uckfield, East Sussex (AIV2025/77), 31 October 2025. Centred around grid ref TQ4618819591.

Nr Swineshead, Boston, Lincolnshire (AIV2025/78), 31 October 2025. Centred around grid ref TF2346644599.

Nr Honington, West Suffolk (AIV2025/79), 1 November 2025. Centred around grid ref TL8733176223.

Nr Donington, South Holland, Lincolnshire (AIV2025/80), 1 November 2025. Centred around grid ref TF1806934759.

Nr Easingwold, Wetherby, North Yorkshire (AIV2025/81), 2 November 2025. Centred around grid ref SE4688267829.

Nr Thirsk, Malton, North Yorkshire (AIV2025/82), 3 November 2025. Centred around grid ref SE4264286835.

Nr Danehill, Wealdon, East Sussex (AIV2025/83), 3 November 2025. Centred around grid ref TQ4017627749.

Nr Crediton, Devon (AIV2025/84), 3 November 2025. Centred around grid ref SS8488401552.

Nr Wells-Next-The-Sea, Norfolk (AIV2025/85), 4 November 2025. Centred around grid ref TF9251339872.

Nr PreeSall, Wyre, Lancashire (AIV2025/86), 5 November 2025. Centred around grid ref SD3750947393.

Nr Corby Glen, South Kesteven, Lincolnshire (AIV2025/87), 5 November 2025. Centred around grid ref SK9989228984.

Nr Kirkham, Fylde, Lancashire (AIV2025/89), 6 November 2025. Centred around grid ref SD4231130456.

Nr Feltwell, Kings Lynn, Norfolk (AIV2025/90), 7 November 2025. Centred around grid ref TL6882188273.

Nr Attleborough, Breckland, Norfolk (AIV2025/91), 7 November 2025. Centred around grid ref TL9706396683.

Nr Alford, East Lindsey, Lincolnshire (AIV2025/92), 7 November 2025. Centred around grid ref TF5111273185.

Another outbreak nr Thirsk, Malton, North Yorkshire (AIV2025/93), 7 November 2025. Centred around grid ref SE3734980599.

Nr Hallow, Malvern Hills, Worcestershire (AIV2025/94), 8 November 2025. Centred around grid ref SO8170562012.

WALES

Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, declared 30 October 2025. Centred around grid ref SM8974508587.

Second case at Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, declared 31 October 2025. Centred around grid ref SM8949908967.

Third case at Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, declared 6 November 2025. Centred around grid ref SM8924307999.

Nr Welshpool, Powys (AIV2025/95), declared 9 November 2025. Centred around grid ref SJ2348703135.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Nr Pomeroy, County Tyrone, declared 7 November 2025. Grid ref not available.

Lisnaskea, County Fermanagh, declared 7 November 2025. Grid ref not available.

County Armagh, declared 10 November 2025 after outbreak in Monaghan, Irish Republic, just across the border.

SCOTLAND

There are currently no confirmed outbreaks in Scotland

Many of the reported incidents have resulted in the declaration of a 3km protection zone and a 10km surveillance zone around the infected premises, with flocks culled and strict biosecurity measures in place.

The former Director of Science at the Government’s Animal & Plant Health Agency (APHA), Professor Ian Brown, has warned that the current H5N1 virus is “as super-infectious as any high pathogenicity avian influenza we’ve ever seen” and has warned farmers to “prepare for the worst” (see here).

Amidst all this, conservationists have argued that the release of ~60 million non-native gamebirds for shooting created more risk for the spread of this highly contagious disease, especially when research revealed that a large number of shooting estates were not even declaring they had birds, making it impossible for Defra and APHA (Animal & Plant Health Agency) to monitor and manage the risk.

Defra and Natural England responded by withdrawing General Licence 45 (the licence permitting the release of gamebirds on or within 500m of a Special Protected Area (SPA)) and heavily reducing the number of individual licences for the same purpose (see here). In August, enhanced mandatory biosecurity measures were also introduced, including for game bird shoots, and these remain in place, although not all game shoots are complying….more on this shortly.

Trial of Scottish gamekeeper accused of killing Goshawk now delayed until March 2026

The trial that was due to start at Perth Sheriff Court yesterday, relating to a Scottish gamekeeper accused of killing a Goshawk, has been delayed.

The case didn’t call yesterday due to another trial over-running. The next available court date is not until March 2026.

Perth Sheriff Court (photo by Ruth Tingay)

This case relates to the alleged killing of a Goshawk on a shooting estate near Blairgowrie on 12 February 2024.

For background details, see here.

NB: As this case is live, comments are turned off until legal proceedings have ended.

UPDATE 17 March 2026: Scottish gamekeeper Russell Mason pleads guilty to battering a Goshawk to death on shooting estate in Perthshire (here)

Trial begins today for Scottish gamekeeper accused of killing a Goshawk on a Perthshire shooting estate

A trial begins today at Perth Sheriff Court for a Scottish gamekeeper accused of killing a Goshawk on a Perthshire shooting estate.

The alleged incident took place on 12 February 2024 on a shooting estate near Blairgowrie.

Goshawk with a Pheasant. Photo by Ronnie Gilbert.

Police Scotland, with the assistance of partners from the RSPB and Scottish SPCA, executed a search warrant on the estate on 29 February 2024, leading to the arrest of a 47-year-old gamekeeper and subsequent charge (see here).

He has pleaded not guilty.

NB: As this case is live, comments are turned off until legal proceedings have ended.

UPDATE 12 November 2025: Trial of Scottish gamekeeper accused of killing Goshawk now delayed until March 2026 (here)

Lack of wildlife crime convictions opening the door to other serious crimes

Press release from Wildlife & Countryside Link (Wildlife Crime sub-group)

Lack of wildlife crime convictions opening the door to other serious crimes

Wildlife and Countryside Link has today released its annual Wildlife Crime Report, highlighting that only 2% of reported wildlife crimes in 2024 resulted in a conviction (excluding fisheries).

The report also reveals startling new statistics on the strong connection between wildlife crime and other serious and violent crimes against people – including criminal damage, domestic violence, burglary and drug crimes. 

The report details thousands of protected wild animals are being illegally killed, trapped, or disturbed every year, with offences ranging from badger baiting, hare coursing and raptor persecution to the illegal wildlife trade. Yet the vast majority of offenders face no consequences for wildlife crime. Lack of action on wildlife crime can leave criminals offending more widely, with over 80% of wildlife offenders active in other crimes against people.

Key findings from the 2024 Wildlife Crime Report include:

  • Nearly 2,000 wildlife crime incidents were reported in 2024 – but only 43 convictions were secured (excluding fisheries). Though this is a rise from 2023, convictions remain too low to be an effective deterrent.
  • A record low level of hunting convictions since 2017 – just 14 convictions
  • New National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) analysis of data on 128 wildlife criminals also reveals strong connections between crime towards animals and violent crimes towards people. With particularly strong connections to poaching, hare coursing and badger crimes.
  • Wildlife criminals are most commonly associated with violent offences and theft/criminal damage (59% and 58% respectively). This rises steeply for poaching and hare coursing offenders (72% and 78%) and badger crime offenders (67% and 62%).
  • The association with organised acquisitive crime (including burglary and rogue trader related fraud) is also strongest in poaching and hare coursing offenders.
  • Drug criminality is most strongly associated with badger crime offenders (48%).
  • There is a link to domestic violence and abuse for 27% of all wildlife crime. offenders, but this is strongest in poaching and hare coursing offenders (34%).
  • Just 18% of all wildlife crime offenders did not have a connection to any other crime besides their conviction.

Richard Benwell, CEO of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said:

“The criminal justice system is failing British wildlife and communities on wildlife crime. Wildlife is being relentlessly targeted by criminals – from brutal badger baiting to birds of prey being shot or poisoned. Yet barely two percent of reported wildlife crimes result in a conviction. This sends a dangerous message that people can kill or harm wildlife and get away with it.

“It’s not just nature at stake. The National Wildlife Crime Unit has shown that those who commit crimes against animals are often involved in serious violence and organised crime. Failing to convict on wildlife crimes leaves the door wide open for these criminals to commit other offences. Better resourcing for police forces and strategically tackling wildlife crime as a recordable offence would help make our streets safer for people as well as protect treasured British wildlife.”

Kevin Lacks-Kelly, Head of UK National Wildlife Crime Unit & Chair INTERPOL Wildlife Crime Working Group, said: “Protecting wildlife is protecting communities. Wildlife crime fuels broader organised offending and damages public safety, the economy and nature. Only a sustained, well-resourced, partnership-led response will stop it.”

A wide array of wildlife crimes is detailed in the new report. Crimes against birds of prey continue to blight the countryside, with hen harriers the most persecuted bird of prey in England, yet no one has ever been convicted for targeting, injuring or killing a hen harrier.  Hunting Act breaches remain widespread, with hundreds of suspected illegal hunts still taking place under the guise of trail hunting, and with violent cruel ‘sports’ like hare coursing and badger baiting still rife. Building-related wildlife crime is still highly prevalent, with crimes by developers and individual home-owners against species like bats, badgers, foxes and birds. Marine mammals, including seals and dolphins, are frequently disturbed or harmed, with many cases unrecorded or left unenforced.

Even fisheries crimes, which have been traditionally better resourced and enforced, are seeing resources fall (with a 90% reduction (£10.6m) in the enforcement grant in aid to the Environment Agency since 2010 and falling enforcement revenue from rod licences). Illegal wildlife trade border seizures (of items such as wild plants, traditional medicine products, ivory and other ornaments as well as live wild animals for pets and for food), increased this year by 30%, which is welcome, but we are only aware of 8 CITES prosecution cases since our 2023 report.

Effectively tackling wildlife crime is a key step towards meeting Government commitments to meet its legally binding target to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. Wildlife and Countryside Link is urging the Government to:

  • Make key wildlife crimes “notifiable” to the Home Office, so they are properly recorded and prioritised by police.
  • Introduce sentencing guidelines and tougher penalties for wildlife crimes, in line with other animal welfare offences.
  • Ban snares and trail hunting, as promised in the Labour manifesto.
  • Increase police training and resources, including long-term funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit.
  • Enforce wildlife protections in planning and development, to prevent illegal harm to habitats and species.

ENDS

WCL_Wildlife _Crime_2025Download

Obituary – Patrick Stirling-Aird MBE, Secretary of the Scottish Raptor Study Group

Obituary – Patrick Stirling-Aird MBE

10 August 1943 – 8 November 2025

The Scottish Raptor Study Group (SRSG) is saddened to report the passing last week of its long-term Secretary Patrick Stirling Aird at his home in Dunblane, Perthshire. We are extremely fortunate and proud to have had Patrick as our Secretary for more than 20 years. It is believed that Patrick started in this role on 19th February 2000.  It cannot be overstated how much of a massive role Patrick has played both for the SRSG and more widely for raptor conservation in Scotland.  He will be greatly missed by all of us in the tight-knit Scottish raptor conservation community.

Patrick Stirling-Aird (Photo by Sue Stirling-Aird)

Patrick was an authority on the Peregrine Falcon, his main passion, along with other upland raptor species including Golden Eagles and Ravens. He assiduously monitored these birds in the Central Scotland (CSRSG) and Tayside and Fife Raptor Study Group (TFRSG) areas for decades. Even whilst in his mid-eighties Patrick was out monitoring Peregrines this year, and was still the species coordinator for both Peregrine and Golden Eagle in the Central Scotland Raptor Study Group area.      

In his book “The Peregrine Falcon” (New Holland 2012) Patrick claimed to have seen his first Peregrine more than 40 years ago, so going back to the early 1970s. He said it was these first sightings, and the recognition of the Peregrine as an “ecological barometer”, that got him involved with formal raptor monitoring. At this time, raptor monitoring was pioneering work promoted especially by Derek Ratcliffe, who warmly acknowledged Patrick’s work and influence in his own monographs on the Peregrine and Raven. In the 1970s and when Patrick took up raptor monitoring in west Perthshire, the Peregrine had of course become an extremely rare breeding bird following the pesticide crisis caused by DDT and Dieldrin in the 1960s, and as revealed by those dedicated individuals who monitored Peregrines across the UK at the time.

I first met Patrick in the early 1990s when I became a member of the CSRSG, having moved down from the Highlands.  He was the Chair of CSRSG since its formation in 1983 and only stood down from that role ten years ago.  Patrick was definitely in charge of monitoring Peregrines, Golden Eagles and Ravens!  It amused me at the time that other species including Red Kites, my own passion, were given relatively short attention at meetings! Owls were barely mentioned unless prompted (something that did not change greatly)! The focus was clearly on the three key raptor species – Patrick’s birds!  What was also clear was Patrick had huge attention to detail.  Patrick was trained and worked as a solicitor and brought this attention to detail to his raptor monitoring. His raptor data record keeping was second to none. When discussing particular raptor sites, he could call on an extensive background history of each site, rigorously documented year by year. If anybody was asked to monitor any Peregrine sites for him or to search certain glens for occupancy, you could expect a full documented history of that site, sometimes going back for over 50 years; detailing alternative sites, productivity; and information on how to access to get the best view of nests.   

Patrick’s own study area was along the boundary between the CSRSG and TFRSG areas. He monitored all of the peregrines from Glen Artney up to Glen Almond and across to Stirling for decades. He also monitored the breeding Golden Eagles and Ravens in these areas. However, when discussing other sites for these species in these RSG areas there did not seem to be many that he had missed during his time either!  For SRSG nationally in Scotland, and for CSRSG and TFRSG more locally, he coordinated the national population surveys for Peregrine – in particular in 1981, 1991, 2001 and 2014.   

By Patrick’s own admission he liked to monitor his birds alone. He also waited impatiently for the good weather to go and do his work on the hill. Characteristically he wore his tweed “plus twos” and deerstalker “fore and aft” hat. When he went out in the field, he tended to spend all day on the hill monitoring one or a small number of sites in a day, observing Peregrines and Eagles for many hours from a distance, noting their behaviour carefully. From my own conversations with folk on the ground whilst out doing my own raptor studies in the same general area I noted the respect that he also carried with the landowners, gamekeepers and stalkers. Patrick always made time to speak to estate owners and their employees both before and after his monitoring visits. In my time, I have rarely heard anybody saying a bad word about Patrick, even when he had to have the difficult conversations with estates about the suspicious disappearance of raptors he was monitoring or their apparently criminal breeding failure!   Patrick was calm, forceful and never shied away from conflict.  

Sadly in many parts of Patrick’s study area he monitored a decline in numbers of breeding Peregrines in recent decades in line with national trends for this species in the Scottish uplands, however the Ravens have fared well, and the Eagles that he monitored are now largely free from human interference. I am privileged to be amongst the few who have been out on the hill over many years with Patrick and every trip was a learning experience. Patrick had a huge commitment to raptor monitoring above all else.

Patrick and Sue Stirling-Aird at a Golden Eagle eyrie (Photo by Duncan Orr-Ewing)

The list of important public roles Patrick undertook over many years as the SRSG Secretary are endless. He was a member of the UK Government’s DETR Raptor Working Group from 1995 to 2000. This initiative was set up originally to tackle what was perceived by the then administration as “the raptor problem”. It ended up meeting 25 times and making 25 recommendations for the enhancement of raptor conservation!   Several officials singled out Patrick for special praise for his unstinting contributions to the group.  The DETR RWG Report was a seismic moment for raptor conservation in the UK and included the production of the SRSG document “Counting the Cost” which used SRSG data to highlight the continuing illegal persecution of raptors in Scotland, including around Patrick’s own long term Peregrine study area in Central Scotland – “Human interference apparently affected about one fifth of the peregrine breeding population in central Scotland, 18% less young produced in the years 1981-1996”.

In my own role at RSPB Scotland, we used these Report recommendations in the early 2000s to tackle the Scottish Government to do more for raptor conservation. The formation of the Scottish Raptor Monitoring Scheme, in which Patrick was also instrumental, is one very good example of the report’s outcome.  Licensing of grouse shooting was secured in Scotland in March 2024 to address systemic illegal persecution of raptors associated with this land use, and this is testament to many decades of hard work by a number of key individuals, who could hold the ring and talk authoritatively about raptors.  Patrick played a totemic role in this.   

In his role as SRSG Secretary, Patrick represented the SRSG on the Moorland Forum and the Police Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group. His controlled persistence in defence of raptors, and against criminal persecution was unique, using his background training and professionalism as a solicitor to maximum effect. No matter how discordant the voices of the those in denial of raptor persecution, Patrick calmly and robustly spoke up for raptors and SRSG fieldworkers.  Not a lover of the phrase ‘balance’, he warmed to the closing lines of Derek Ratcliffe in his 2003 foreword to ‘Birds of Prey in a Changing Environment’:  “Raptor enthusiasts will have to speak up, and assert their simple conviction that birds of prey are as important as gamebirds or homing pigeons.”  

Patrick has served time on the UK RSPB Council and was previously a member of the RSPB Scottish Advisory Committee. He was also on the Scottish Wildlife Trust Council and a member of the BTO Research & Surveys Committee. We in the SRSG community and his family were all absolutely delighted when Patrick was awarded an MBE in 2005 in the New Year’s Honours list for his services to wildlife conservation and this award was subsequently presented at a ceremony at Holyrood Palace. This demonstrated the high regard with which he was held throughout the conservation and political world.

Duncan Orr-Ewing, Head of Species and Land Management, RSPB Scotland and Chair, Central Scotland Raptor Study Group

NatureScot says “decision in next few weeks” on whether to impose General Licence restriction in relation to shooting & killing of golden eagle Merrick

The Scottish Government’s nature advisory agency, NatureScot, has been now been procrastinating for over 18 months on whether to impose a sanction on an estate in relation to the ‘shooting and killing’ of a sleeping Golden Eagle called Merrick. But apparently a decision is now expected “in the next few weeks”.

Merrick was a young satellite-tagged Golden Eagle, released in south Scotland in 2022 as part of the South Scotland Golden Eagle Project, a lottery-funded conservation initiative which translocated young Golden Eagles from various sites across north Scotland to boost the tiny remnants of the Golden Eagle breeding population in south Scotland that had previously been decimated by illegal persecution and had become isolated by geographic barriers.

Camera trap photo of golden eagle Merrick in 2022, from South Scotland Golden Eagle Project

A year after her release, which had seen her fly around south Scotland and down into northern England and back, on 12 October 2023 Merrick’s satellite tag suddenly and inexplicably stopped transmitting from a roost site in the Moorfoot Hills in the Scottish Borders where she’d been sleeping overnight.

A project officer from the South Scotland Golden Eagle Project went to her last known location where he found Merrick’s feathers and blood directly below her roost tree. Police Scotland later determined from the evidence that she’d been ‘shot and killed’ and that someone had then ‘removed her body and destroyed her satellite tag’ (see here).

There was limited scope for anyone to be charged and prosecuted for killing this eagle unless someone in the know came forward with sufficient evidence to identify the individual(s) responsible. In addition, the prospect of an estate having its grouse-shooting licence withdrawn as a consequence of this crime was zero, given that this offence took place prior to the enactment of the Wildlife & Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024, the legislation that introduced grouse moor licensing.

That just left a General Licence restriction as a possible sanction. Not that I’d describe a GL restriction as an effective sanction, for reasons that have been explored previously on this blog (e.g. here and here). Nevertheless, it’s still something and, given the high-profile of Merrick’s death, you might think that making a decision on whether to impose a GL restriction would be a high priority for NatureScot.

Not so.

I wrote about NatureScot’s procrastination on this case in August (see here), after receiving a response to a Freedom of Information request I’d lodged in June 2025. That response confirmed that NatureScot had received an information package from Police Scotland, on which it would base its General Licence restriction decision, in April 2024.

I blogged again in September, highlighting that NatureScot had now procrastinated for 17 months. Unbeknownst to me at the time, that blog prompted two blog readers to write to NatureScot, and one of them lodged a formal complaint against the agency.

Blog reader Stuart Wilson has kindly given permission for me to share the response he received recently from NatureScot in relation to his complaint, which is almost identical to the response blog reader SusanH shared on this blog a few days ago on an unrelated post.