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Young peregrine found with shotgun injuries in Cheshire

RSPB press release (4 July 2019):

Young peregrine falcon illegally shot

A young peregrine had to be euthanised after it was found with a broken wing and a shotgun pellet in its chest.

The bird was found in the road at Aldford, part of the Grosvenor Estate in Cheshire, on 17 April 2019 and taken to Lower Moss Wood Wildlife Hospital. An X-ray by Northwich Vets confirmed it had a broken wing and piece of shot in its chest.

Knowing it would not recover from its injuries, the vets took the sad decision to put the bird to sleep.

[Photo of the injured peregrine by Ian Daniels]

Peregrine falcons are the world’s fastest birds, able to reach speeds of 200mph when diving for prey. They nest on moorland, on cliffs and increasingly in towns and cities, usually producing two-four chicks each spring. There are thought to be around 1,500 pairs in the UK.

Like all birds of prey, peregrines are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. To kill or injure one is a criminal offence and could result in an unlimited fine or up to six months in jail.

Cheshire police are now appealing to the public for information.

Only a month before, in March 2019, a raven was found shot dead near Delamere Forest, Cheshire. Police investigated the incident but no leads were identified.

Jenny Shelton from the RSPB’s Investigations Unit said: “Most major cities will have their own ‘peregrine pair’, probably nesting on a cathedral spire or another tall building. Our lives and theirs are becoming increasingly entwined, which is a wonderful and very special thing. However there are still some who want to kill these magnificent birds. This young bird, which would have hatched last year so was just shy of its first birthday, was found in considerable distress with a piece of shot in its chest. Naturally, we want to find out who did this.

There is an unseen culture of raptor persecution in the UK, whereby birds like peregrines, ravens and owls are being illegally killed due to a perceived threat to some people’s interests. If you have any information please contact the police on 101, or speak to us in confidence on our raptor crime hotline: 0300 999 0101.”

PC Ged Gigg, Wildlife officer for Cheshire Police said: “Wildlife crime is a priority for us – my colleagues and I are dedicated to investigating crimes that affect our rural communities. I have been making extensive enquiries in the area and would urge anyone who has any information that may help with this investigation to contact police so that we can find those responsible.”

If you have any information relating to this incident, call Cheshire Police on 101 or go to www.cheshire.police.uk/contact/general-enquiries making sure you quote IML 376696.

If you find a wild bird of prey which you suspect has been illegally killed, contact RSPB investigations on 01767 680551 or fill in the online form.

ENDS

No strong evidence to support claim Norfolk Marsh harrier was ‘shot’

Two days ago the Hawk and Owl Trust announced the discovery of what was claimed to be a “shot” Marsh harrier close to the boundary of the Sculthorpe Moor nature reserve near Fakenham, Norfolk.

This story has since been reported in the local press and national media including the BBC website.

However, to be completely honest, the evidence to support this claim is not strong.

The bird was seen and photographed by a member of the public, but they were unable to reach the bird to rescue it. The photograph shows a clear injury to the harrier’s wing.

[Photo of the injured Marsh harrier, from Hawk and Owl Trust]

The member of the public then reported the discovery to reserve staff who went to try and locate the bird but it had gone. The report on the Hawk & Owl Trust website says ‘the vegetation was all broken down with only a few feathers left’.

The incident was then reported to the police.

Sorry, but unless there’s part of this story that is being kept under wraps for investigative purposes, it’s not possible to tell from the photograph whether this Marsh harrier had been shot or whether it was injured from, say, a collision with a fence. An x-ray would have confirmed it, of course, but under the circumstances an x-ray wasn’t an option.

Of course, it’s perfectly feasible that this Marsh harrier had been shot – we know this species is routinely targeted whether it be in the lowlands (e.g. see here and here) or on upland grouse moors (e.g. here), hated so much that the Moorland Association has been asking questions about whether licences to kill Marsh harriers might be available (see here). But on this particular occasion, with this particular harrier, more evidence would be required before this should be recorded as a confirmed shooting.

It’s ironic really. Remember, this is the same Hawk & Owl Trust that refused to acknowledge that its satellite-tagged hen harrier Rowan had been shot, despite a conclusive x-ray showing the bird’s shattered leg and, er, fragments of shot:

Scottish Gamekeepers Association’s smear campaign re: golden eagle Fred is defamatory shambles

On Monday (1 July), the Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA) published a statement on its website in response to the news that golden eagles Adam and Charlie had ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances on a grouse moor in the Strathbraan raven cull area in Perthshire.

It was an astonishingly ill-judged response. It didn’t mention the loss of these two eagles – let alone condemn what looked to be yet another suspicious incident, identical to the loss of so many other sat-tagged eagles on grouse moors. Instead, it focused on the supposed ‘need’ for ‘independent scrutiny’ of satellite tag data (conveniently ignoring the fact that the police now routinely analyse the data of all sat-tagged raptors that have been reported as missing in suspicious circumstances).

To support its argument, the SGA highlight the disappearance of Fred, one of our sat-tagged golden eagles who vanished from the Pentland Hills just outside Edinburgh in January 2018 and whose tag then sent data from the North Sea, several days later, before finally stopping.

According to the SGA, and some of their clueless members/supporters on social media, we apparently withheld some tag data from Police Scotland. Their ‘evidence’ (ahem) to support this claim seems to be centred on two things:

  1. The fact that two videos were filmed by our team on the same day but published several weeks apart; and
  2. An FoI response from Police Scotland in response to some poorly structured questions.

Here’s part of the SGA’s post on the ‘need’ for independent sat tag monitoring:

And here is a copy of the Freedom of Information response from Police Scotland, also posted on the SGA’s website:

It appears the SGA have even persuaded their ‘legal advisors’ to show this ‘evidence’ to the police.

Good grief. Unsurprisingly, the police haven’t come knocking and here’s why (probably) –

Yes, we did film two videos on the same day, and published them weeks apart. So what? We’ve never tried to deny that, but much has been made of it over the past 18 months, much to our amusement and bemusement. Our time is valuable, our schedules are tight, we had our film crew in place, why not make the most of that situation and film as much as we could in one day, instead of having to organise another filming day sometime later?

What the SGA don’t know is that yes, at that time we had the additional meta data (that showed Fred’s tag pinging against various telephone masts on its route from the Pentlands to the North Sea) but we were still working out what those data actually meant (it’s not the type of data we were familiar with) and we filmed several versions of what we thought the data were showing us at that time. We were still taking advice from a number of independent experts for some weeks afterwards, including the police, and when we were happy that we understood the data and the limitations of the data parameters, that was the version that was published several weeks later, with the full support of the police.

The SGA thinks that Police Scotland received Fred’s tag data from us on 26 January (because that is what is implied in the Police’s FoI response). However, that is absolutely not the case, and is simply a reflection of the poorly constructed FoI question. Fred’s suspicious disappearance was reported to Police Scotland on 26 January, yes, but they did not ask to see Fred’s tag data at that time. Presumably because they had every confidence in us as legitimate, well-regarded researchers not to question our report that Fred’s disappearance was highly suspicious, along with the backing of experienced tag data analysts at RSPB Scotland. Let’s face it – if you look at the map showing Fred’s movements in the Pentlands and then several days later he’s suddenly 10 miles offshore in the North Sea, you don’t need to be a golden eagle expert or to look at raw data to know that something isn’t quite right. The police launched an immediate search in the Pentlands (and, for the record, worked admirably for the duration of this investigation).

The tag data and meta data were eventually requested by Police Scotland during a phone call on 19th February. It wasn’t clear why it was only then that the data were being requested but we suspected pressure was being placed on the police by, let’s call them ‘external forces’. The data request was fine by us. It was agreed that it would be good for us to meet and go through the data together, including the meta data files. The earliest date that was mutually convenient for us all was one week later on Monday 26 February. We met, discussed the data and agreed that it would be better for the police to have a copy of the original raw data files directly from the tag manufacturer, rather than our files, just to avoid any accusations that we may have tampered with the files (unfounded accusations which were, of course, doing the rounds on social media by those seeking to discredit us and to distract attention from the circumstances of Fred’s disappearance – those ‘external forces’ again).

Incidentally, it was at this time that SGA Director Bert Burnett claimed on social media that we’d fabricated the whole incident with Fred (and thus perverted the course of justice), and made another claim that Chris Packham had refused to turn over the tag data to the police. Quite astonishing (and defamatory) accusations based on no evidence whatsoever. Nothing new there, then.

Immediately after our meeting with the police to discuss the tag data we contacted the tag manufacturer, gave permission for our data to be shared with the police, put the two parties in touch with one another and the original raw data files were sent to the police on 1 March (as accurately stated in the police’s FoI response).

Where the SGA’s logic completely falls down is this. Why on earth would we want to withhold evidence (the meta data) from the police, especially when we believed that evidence supported our earlier suspicions that Fred had been killed in the Pentlands and then his tag (and perhaps Fred too) was transported by road to North Berwick and dumped in the North Sea?

Sorry, SGA, your desperate attempts to smear and discredit us can be seen for exactly what they, and you, are. Pathetic.

Next.

Chris Packham responds to Scottish Gamekeepers Association with the contempt they deserve

There has been a massive amount of media coverage on the the suspicious disappearance of two satellite-tagged golden eagles, Adam and Charlie, who vanished from a grouse moor in the Strathbraan raven cull area on the same April morning.

Here’s some of that coverage:

The Guardian

The Times

BBC News

Scotsman

Daily Record

ITV News at Ten

Our favourite one, though, so far, is this one from The Herald:

Journalist Jody Harrison first discusses the disappearances of golden eagles Adam and Charlie, but then moves on to some defensive guff put out yesterday by the Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA), who seem to think that satellite-tag data aren’t independently scrutinised by the police in each case of a suspicious disappearance (er, asking for the tag data is the first thing the police do when a sat-tagged raptor is reported as missing under suspicious circumstances).

Here’s Chris Packham’s exquisite response to the SGA:

The article also includes a good response from RSPB Scotland’s Ian Thomson, who not only accuses the SGA of trying to “muddy the waters” but also welcomes the idea of independent scrutiny, especially if it’s extended to the amount of wildlife-killing that goes on as part of routine grouse moor management.

We’re not sure who is advising the SGA on its media strategy these days but whoever it is, thanks a lot, you’re handing them to us on a plate.

‘Please Nicola, let’s show eagles our love & protection’ says 9-year-old boy

Following yesterday’s news that two golden eagles have ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances on a Scottish grouse moor (here), schoolchildren are making a direct appeal to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to protect these birds.

This drawing, sent to Ms Sturgeon, is by nine-year-old Freddie. It was shared on Twitter yesterday by his family @blackerschat

And this one was drawn by Nicola Penfold’s seven-year-old boy, also called Freddie [@nicolapenfold]:

This idea was suggested by award-winning children’s author Gill Lewis. Gill’s latest book is ‘Eagle Warrior‘ and was inspired by the story of golden eagle Fred who vanished under suspicious circumstances from the Pentland Hills last year and whose satellite tag ended up in the North Sea.

In December last year we blogged about some amazing schoolchildren in Glasgow (Sunnyside Primary School) who had drawn ‘missing’ posters as they learned about the disappearance of golden eagle Fred.

Following yesterday’s news of golden eagles Adam and Charlie, Gill posted her own drawing of an eagle and a plea to the First Minister on Twitter to ‘stop the persecution’ and encouraged others to do the same:

So far, the First Minister and the rest of her Cabinet have remained silent about the news of Adam and Charlie. They have also failed to comment about the recent discovery of hen harrier ‘Rannoch‘ who was found dead in May on another Strathbraan grouse moor with its leg caught in an illegal trap, and they’ve remained silent about the suspicious disappearance of hen harrier ‘Marci‘ who vanished from a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park in April.

We’ve been encouraging blog readers to email the First Minister [ FirstMinister@gov.scot ], as Andy Wightman did yesterday (see here) to call for action against those who continue to kill birds of prey in Scotland.

But if you’ve got kids who like to draw, sending the First Minister a picture and a plea to help from them cannot be so easily ignored.

“It is long past time for reviews & inquiries”: Andy Wightman’s letter to Nicola Sturgeon

This morning we blogged about two satellite-tagged golden eagles, named Adam and Charlie, who have ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances on a Scottish grouse moor (here).

We published a video about the loss of these eagles and we all watched an emotional Andy Wightman MSP try to retain his composure as he talked to Chris Packham about how he felt when he was told that ‘his’ eagle, Adam, was one of those that had vanished.

Watch the video here:

This afternoon, Andy has written to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon urging her to take action against the ongoing issue of illegal raptor persecution on grouse moors.

Here is a copy of that letter:

Like Andy, you too can write to the First Minister. You can write her an email.

You can talk about how you felt when you heard about these two missing golden eagles.

About how you felt about the 50+ other satellite-tagged golden eagles that have ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances on or near to grouse moors in the last ten years.

About how you feel every time you read another news article about the illegal killing of birds of prey on land managed for game shooting.

About how you feel when what looks like clear cut video evidence of an alleged crime against birds of prey is thrown out of court and the suspect walks free without trial.

About how you feel every time the Scottish Government says ‘raptor persecution won’t be tolerated’ but then it is, time and time again.

Please take the time to contact Nicola Sturgeon. She’ll be delighted to find out just how many people would support her to take action. You don’t need to be a Scottish resident to write to her – in fact the more correspondents from overseas, the better. This is an international embarrassment to Scotland and the time has come for regulation.

Please send your emails to: FirstMinister@gov.scot

Thank you.

The next blog will include some AMAZING eagle illustrations that have been drawn today and sent to the First Minister. If you thought Andy’s interview was powerful, wait until you see these…..

Two more golden eagles go ‘missing’, on the same morning, on the same Scottish grouse moor

Press release from Raptor Persecution UK and Chris Packham (1 July 2019)

TWO GOLDEN EAGLES VANISH IN SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES ON THE SAME MORNING, ON THE SAME SCOTTISH GROUSE MOOR

Two young satellite-tagged golden eagles have disappeared in suspicious circumstances, within hours of each other, on the same Scottish grouse moor.

The two eagles, named Adam and Charlie, were being monitored by TV broadcaster Chris Packham and Dr Ruth Tingay of Raptor Persecution UK as part of a wider scientific study in to the movements of young golden eagles in Scotland.

Adam and Charlie vanished from the Auchnafree Estate in the Strathbraan area of Perthshire on the morning of 18th April 2019. The eagles’ satellite tags, which had been working perfectly well for one and two years respectively, suddenly and inexplicably stopped working (Charlie’s at 06.25hrs and Adam’s at 11.39hrs) just 3.4km apart. Both the tags and the eagles have since been untraceable.

A police-led search of the eagles’ last known locations on the grouse moor has failed to yield any further information about their fates. There is no evidence to suggest the estate’s involvement with these disappearances.

One of the eagles, ‘Adam’, had been named and adopted by Andy Wightman MSP in June 2018. Wightman is the Scottish Parliament’s Species Champion for the golden eagle and had visited the eagle’s nest site last year to watch researchers fit the bird’s satellite tag. He’d named the eagle Adam as a tribute to the late ecologist and mountaineer Dr Adam Watson.

[Andy Wightman MSP with golden eagle Adam at approx 9 weeks old in the Loch Lomond National Park. Photo by Ruth Tingay]

Both Adam and Charlie had hatched at separate nests in the Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park in 2018 and 2017 respectively, and their satellite tags had allowed researchers to follow their movements with incredible precision.

The circumstances of their disappearances, in a region previously identified as a raptor persecution hotspot, are virtually identical to the suspicious disappearances of more than 50 satellite-tagged eagles in Scotland, as revealed in a Government-commissioned report published in 2017.

That report found that almost a third of all satellite-tagged golden eagles have disappeared without trace on or next to a driven grouse moor in known raptor persecution hotspots, giving rise to what Environment Cabinet Secretary Roseanna Cunningham called “legitimate concerns” that high numbers of golden eagles continue to be killed in some areas of Scotland each year.

In response to that report’s findings in 2017, the Cabinet Secretary ordered a review of grouse moor management practices with a view to introducing a licensing scheme for game-shooting estates. The review is due to be published this summer.

Andy Wightman MSP said: “I am shocked and devastated by the disappearance of Adam, a young golden eagle, whom I spent time with when he was nine weeks old. The cold rage that I felt when I heard of the circumstances of his disappearance has now developed into a determination to discover his fate.

This latest outrage should be a wake-up call to the Scottish Government that for all their reviews, inquiries and reforms, rampant criminality remains in place across many of Scotland’s driven grouse moors”.

Chris Packham said: “We can’t prove that harm has come to Adam and Charlie, nor who might have been responsible, but we can look at the circumstances, look at the science, look at the wider evidence and draw plausible conclusions. The Scottish Government has already acknowledged that illegal raptor persecution is an ongoing problem. How many more golden eagles do we have to lose before that same Government takes effective action?”

Anyone with information about the suspicious disappearances of Adam and Charlie is urged to contact Police Scotland on 101, or the RSPB’s confidential raptor crime hotline 0300 999 0101.

ENDS

We’ve produced a video about the suspicious disappearances of these two young eagles:

We’d like to thank the National Wildlife Crime Unit (particularly Charlie Everitt and Lou Hubble), Police Scotland and the RSPB Scotland Investigations Team for their significant joint partnership work on this investigation, from analyses of the satellite tag data right through to an especially thorough land search and subsequent follow up work.

We’ll be posting more on this shortly.

So here we are again. Not just another golden eagle lost, but two, on the same morning in the same area. This news is likely to lead to anger, despair, and a sense of impotency and futility.

What can we do?

We can hold the Scottish Government to account. They’ve been promising to deal with this for 20 years, ever since the Scottish Parliament was formed. It’s been noticeable, in recent months, that every time a confirmed or suspected raptor persecution crime has been reported, the Scottish Government has responded with silence.

Please consider writing to both the Environment Cabinet Environment Secretary, Roseanna Cunningham, and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. Be polite but be clear – this appalling toll on our wildlife must end.

Roseanna Cunningham: cabsececclr@gov.scot

Nicola Sturgeon: firstminister@gov.scot

UPDATE 5pm: NEW BLOG – “It is long past time for reviews & inquiries: Andy Wightman’s letter to Nicola Sturgeon (here)

UPDATE 2 July: NEW BLOG – ‘Please Nicola, let’s show eagles our love and protection’ says 9 yr old boy (here)

UPDATE 2 July: NEW BLOG – Chris Packham responds to Scottish Gamekeepers Association with the contempt they deserve (here)

UPDATE 5 July: NEW BLOG – Is Scottish Government’s silence an indication of indifference to illegal raptor persecution? (here)

Even more innocent victims caught in traps set on grouse moors

About a week ago we blogged about the deaths of some birds in some traps that had been set on some grouse moors.

Some of the traps had been set legally, but still caught and killed an innocent Dipper (here) whereas other traps had been set illegally and had caught and killed an innocent tawny owl, as reported by the RSPB Investigations Team (here).

Yesterday, we were sent more images of some different traps that had caught yet more innocent victims. These traps were photographed on the Leadhills (Hopetoun) Estate in South Lanarkshire, and although the traps appear to have been set legally (i.e. the trap has been placed inside a tunnel and the entry holes have been restricted), they have still caught and killed another innocent Dipper and a Wheatear.

As we wrote last week, even though the traps in these photographs appear to have been legally set, and the trap operator has abided by the law, the traps have still caused the deaths of these native species but nobody will be held to account. These deaths are considered acceptable collateral damage, the price our native wildlife has to suffer to enable over-privileged members of the establishment the opportunity to blast to death thousands of game birds later in the year.

There is no legal requirement for grouse shooting estates to monitor, record or report these deaths. The Scottish and Westminster Governments and their statutory conservation advisory agencies (SNH and Natural England) have no clue about how many of these deaths take place on grouse moors each day/week/month/year.

Imagine if we all were setting out traps like this in our back gardens, routinely killing native wildlife without being held to account.

Imagine if you saw these traps set out in your town, killing blackbirds and song thrushes and robins every single day.

For how long do you think we’d get away with it? (Not that anyone with an ounce of decency would want to get away with it).

Now think about how long the grouse shooting industry has been able to get away with this without being challenged/stopped.

Hen harrier brood meddling has begun in England

SHAME, WRIT LARGE.

At least one brood of hen harriers has been removed from a grouse moor and taken in to captivity today as part of DEFRA’s/Natural England’s scandalous hen harrier brood meddling plan (part of the Government’s useless Hen Harrier Action Plan).

How do we know? Has DEFRA and Natural England behaved with impeccable transparency and ensured that everyone was kept up to date?

Like hell.

The news has been slipped out by Natural England, buried away at the foot of an earlier blog post on the brood meddling scheme (dated 6 June), presumably in the hope that nobody would notice.

To give him his due, Natural England CEO Tony Juniper did share this information on Twitter late this afternoon, but only after being repeatedly prompted by members of the public who were seeking information.

Here’s the link to the news (scroll down to the bottom of the page and squint your eyes a bit and you’ll find it):

https://naturalengland.blog.gov.uk/2019/06/06/wildlife-licensing-at-natural-england-in-action/

[Photo by Laurie Campbell]

For the benefit of new readers, here’s a quick overview of what hen harrier brood meddling is all about.

We don’t know how many nests have been plundered, or how many chicks have been removed, nor the location(s) of those plundered nests. We do know that at least one grouse shooting estate in North Yorkshire was hoping to participate, even though this particular estate has a long history of raptor persecution, including at least one wildlife crime conviction for one of the estate’s employees. Marvellous.

We also know, from earlier FoIs on this subject, that the practical aspects of raising those hen harriers in captivity is being coordinated by the International Centre for Birds of Prey (ICBP) in Newent, Glos (shame on them) and that the Moorland Association are paying for the expertise of the ICBP and also for the satellite tags that all brood meddled hen harriers must be fitted with before release later this summer (it’s a condition of the licence).

We have asked Natural England today what measures it has implemented to protect any brood meddled hen harriers from armed criminals on grouse moors when the birds are released later this summer, but answer came there none.

What a dreadful day for hen harrier conservation in the UK. We began by learning about the barbaric killing of a young satellite-tagged hen harrier on a grouse moor in Strathbraan, Scotland, and we’ve ended by learning that England’s statutory nature conservation agency (ahem) has authorised the removal of young hen harriers from at least one grouse moor somewhere in England just to appease the influential criminals within the grouse shooting industry.

Young hen harrier suffers horrific death in illegal trap on Strathbraan grouse moor

RSPB press release (27 June 2019)

YOUNG HEN HARRIER KILLED BY ILLEGAL TRAP ON PERTHSHIRE GROUSE MOOR

A satellite tagged hen harrier has been illegally killed on a Perthshire grouse moor. The remains of the young female, named Rannoch, were found by RSPB Scotland in May caught in a spring trap which had been set in the open, not permitted by law.

The post mortem report from SRUC veterinary laboratory said: “The bird was trapped by the left leg in a spring trap at time of death. Death will have been due to a combination of shock and blood loss if it died quickly or to exposure and dehydration/starvation if it died slowly. Either way the bird will have experienced significant unnecessary suffering.”

[Hen harrier Rannoch’s remains in an illegal trap on a Strathbraan grouse moor. Photos by RSPB Scotland]

Rannoch was satellite tagged by RSPB’s Hen Harrier LIFE project in July 2017. Her tag data movements were followed closely by RSPB Scotland until 10th November 2018 when she stopped moving in an area of moorland between Aberfeldy and Crieff. The solar powered tag battery drained before accurate location data could be gathered allowing her to be found, but after coming online again in May 2019 enough information was provided to locate her remains. A recent study showed that 72% of tagged British hen harriers are confirmed or considered very likely to have been illegally killed.

Dr Cathleen Thomas, Project Manager for the RSPB’s Hen Harrier LIFE project, said: “We are absolutely devastated that Rannoch has been a victim of crime; the life of this beautiful bird was cut short in the most horrific way due to human actions. Satellite tagging has revealed the amazing journeys made by hen harriers but also uncovers how their journeys end.

“Often the birds disappear with their tags suddenly ceasing to function as perpetrators go to great lengths to hide the evidence of their crimes; Rannoch’s death in a spring trap is evidence of one way in which these birds are being killed. In terms of their population size, hen harriers are the most persecuted bird of prey in the UK, and their population is now perilously low, so every loss we suffer impacts the continued survival of the species.”

Ian Thomson, Head of Investigations Scotland, said: “This latest killing of a hen harrier is truly appalling. The actions of the individual who set this trap were both reckless and indiscriminate, and showed a complete disregard for both the law and the welfare of local wildlife. Sadly, the catalogue of criminal killing of tagged hen harriers and other birds of prey continues unabated; we know many others are illegally killed and going undetected, so her death is part of the tip of the iceberg of the true level of criminality.

“At a time when our hen harrier population is in sharp decline, we repeat our call on the Scottish Government to take urgent action to regulate driven grouse shooting through a licensing scheme, with sanctions to remove licences to shoot on land where the public authorities are satisfied that illegal activities are occurring”.

Rannoch was one of two chicks who fledged from a Perthshire nest in an area owned and managed by Forestry and Land Scotland in July 2017. Her tag was fitted in partnership with local members of the Tayside Raptor Study Group and Forestry and Land Scotland, who monitored the nest together.

[Hen harrier ‘Rannoch’ being fitted with her satellite tag in 2017. Photo by Brian Etheridge]

The tag data showed Rannoch spent most of her time in Perthshire before she stopped moving on 10th November 2018. As the tag had continued to function after she stopped moving, rather than coming to an abrupt halt, it was assumed that she had died of natural causes. The tag briefly transmitted more data in January this year, and again in May for longer, as the battery recharged in the spring sunlight. The second time more accurate location data was transmitted, allowing RSPB Scotland to finally recover Rannoch’s remains. When RSPB Scotland found Rannoch her leg was caught in a spring trap. Her body was recovered and delivered to the SRUC veterinary laboratory for a post mortem, and Police Scotland were notified.

Logan Steele, a member of the Tayside Raptor Study Group, which monitors hen harriers in the area said: “Rannoch and her sibling were the first birds to fledge from this site in ten years so I was very angry to hear she had died caught in an illegal trap. With so few hen harriers left in this part of Perthshire it is particularly worrying that this bird will not return to breed.”

Anyone with information about this crime or other bird of prey illegal persecution is urged to contact Police Scotland on 101, or the RSPB’s confidential raptor crime hotline on 0300 999 0101.

ENDS

The RSPB press release does not name the grouse moor where Rannoch’s remains were found but just says it was ‘in an area of moorland between Aberfeldy and Crieff’.

This is clearly within the boundary of the Strathbraan raven cull area, where in 2018 SNH issued a licence to local gamekeepers permitting them to kill 69 ravens ‘just to see what happened’. A legal challenge to that licensing decision was successfully made by the Scottish Raptor Study Group and one of their concerns had been that the Strathbraan raven cull area was a known raptor persecution hotspot with a long history of poisonings, illegally-trapped birds and the suspicious disappearances of at least six satellite-tagged eagles.

[RPUK map showing boundary of Strathbraan raven cull area (yellow line) and significant areas of moorland managed for driven grouse shooting (outlined in white). Hen Harrier Rannoch’s corpse was found on one of these moorlands]

Hen Harrier Rannoch’s name will now be added to the ever-increasing list of persecuted satellite tagged hen harriers on British grouse moors, although unusually this time we’re not dealing with a missing corpse and a missing tag that has suddenly and inexplicably stopped working.

No, this time there is no escaping the brutal, barbaric reality of her miserable death. The criminality is writ large, for all to see.

How will the authorities respond this time? Complete silence, as we’ve come to expect every time a raptor persecution crime is reported in the press? We won’t let the Scottish Government off the hook so easily this time.

Wilful blindness will no longer be tolerated.

This weekend, the Scottish Parliament will be celebrating its 20 year anniversary. Twenty years ago, the then Secretary of State Donald Dewar famously described illegal raptor persecution as “a national disgrace” and committed the Scottish Parliament to take “all possible steps to eliminate [raptor] persecution“.

It’s time for the Scottish Government to honour that commitment.

Please send an email of protest to Cabinet Secretary Roseanna Cunningham: cabsececclr@gov.scot Your email needs to be firm but polite. There can be no more prevarication on dealing with these crimes and the Scottish Government needs to understand the strength of feeling about its continued failure to bring the criminals to justice and end these vile actions.

Thank you.

UPDATE 26th January 2022: Lochan Estate penalised after discovery of illegally-killed hen harrier on grouse moor (here)