For the benefit of those not on Twitter, you’ll be pleased to hear that the ‘penis hate mail‘ sent to Chris Packham has been successfully auctioned on Ebay and has raised a staggering £2,550.00 which will go towards Wild Justice’s next legal challenge.
Bravo, Chris, a masterclass in how to deal with those who seek to bully and threaten.
The blog has passed another milestone this weekend, reaching 5 million views.
It’s gratifying that our audience keeps growing; we’re attracting approx one million views per year at the moment.
Why do we spend so much time writing it? That’s simple – to raise awareness about the continuing illegal killing of birds of prey and to influence policy that will help bring it to an end.
We post this photograph every time we reach another million views because it’s what motivates us to keep going. This is a golden eagle that was found dead in the Cairngorms National Park in 2006 (photo by RSPB). It had been illegally poisoned. It epitomises everything in its pitiful, poignant, senselessness.
Thank you to everyone who supports and contributes to this blog.
Onwards towards six million views!
Scotland’s birds of prey were celebrated at the Scottish Parliament last night during a reception for the Scottish Raptor Study Group (SRSG), hosted by Andy Wightman MSP (Golden Eagle Species Champion).
[Andy Wightman MSP with Logan Steele, Communications Secretary SRSG. Photo by Ruth Tingay]
In addition to a number of cross-party MSPs, approx 50 guests attended the SRSG’s first ever parliamentary reception, representing a wide number of interests. These included the National Parks, Forestry & Land Scotland, Argaty Red Kites, SNH, Scottish Government, RSPB, South Scotland Golden Eagle Project, Mull Eagle Watch, National Trust for Scotland, Scottish Environment LINK, Wild Scotland, Scottish Wildlife Trust, Scottish Ornithologists’ Club and a number of SRSG members.
There were speeches from Andy and Logan and an especially heart-felt talk from Environment Minister Mairi Gougeon who enthused about the opportunities she’d had to see hen harriers (she’s the HH Species Champion) in the company of Scottish Raptor Study Group fieldworkers.
[Environment Minister Mairi Gougeon. Photo by Ruth Tingay]
Mairi spoke of her appreciation of the work of the SRSG and its hugely important contribution to the wider scientific literature, as well as the ground-breaking research involving satellite tagging and the subsequent report on the fate of satellite-tagged golden eagles, which revealed the extent of on-going illegal persecution in some grouse moor areas of Scotland. She was well aware of the on-going persecution issue, and referenced yesterday’s news of hen harrier Skylar’s disappearance next to a grouse moor near Leadhills. Tackling persecution was certainly on her agenda and she said she was looking forward to reading the recommendations of the forthcoming Werritty Review (due out this summer).
The reception was wrapped up with a stunning presentation from highly acclaimed wildlife photographer Laurie Campbell, who shared some of his images and told tales about the extraordinary lengths he’d had to go to to get them.
Many thanks to Andy Wightman for hosting this event and well done Logan and his team for putting in the work to organise such an enjoyable celebration.
Many of the attending MSPs, including the Environment Minister, already had a good understanding and appreciation of these species, having taken the time to attend SRSG conferences, Hen Harrier Day events and field visits.
Could we say the same of Westminster parliamentarians? Could anyone imagine Therese Coffey standing up to deliver a speech about her appreciation of birds of prey and her determination to tackle the ongoing persecution of these birds?
RSPB press release (7 May 2019)
ANOTHER HEN HARRIER DISAPPEARS IN SOUTH LANARKSHIRE “BLACK HOLE”
Skylar last recorded next to a grouse moor
RSPB Scotland is appealing for information from the public after a young hen harrier, fitted with a satellite transmitter, disappeared suddenly on a moor near Elvanfoot.
The female harrier, named Skylar, was being monitored by the RSPB as part of their EU-funded Hen Harrier LIFE project. She had been roosting overnight in an area of rushes and rough grassland fringing a grouse moor a few miles south of the village for several days before her tag abruptly stopped working on 7th February 2019.
[Hen harrier Skylar as a nestling in 2017, photo by RSPB]
The area where she disappeared has a history of similar cases and illegal bird of prey killings. A hen harrier and short-eared owl were shot and killed on a grouse moor in 2017, a few miles away from Skylar’s last known location. Another tagged hen harrier, Annie, was found shot nearby in April 2015 and two other tagged hen harriers vanished in the area, one in June 2014 and another, named Chance, in May 2016, after she had spent two winters in France.
Dr Cathleen Thomas, RSPB’s Hen Harrier LIFE Project manager said: “Skylar has been a fascinating bird to follow; we were amazed to see her make a brief, week-long sojourn to Ireland in autumn 2017 before she returned to winter in South Lanarkshire in 2017/18. She spent much of summer 2018 in Highland Perthshire, before returning to South Lanarkshire for the winter 2018/19 where she remained until she disappeared.
Her disappearance follows a depressingly familiar pattern. Her tag was working as expected, then suddenly stopped. There have been no further transmissions, and the bird’s body has not been located. Had she died of natural causes, we would have expected the transmitter to continue working allowing us to recover her body. Sadly, we’ll probably never know exactly what has happened to Skylar.”
Skylar was fitted with a satellite-tag in July 2017 just before she fledged from her nest in Argyll. Her mother, DeeCee, had previously been tagged as part of the LIFE project, allowing the project to easily locate the nest. Skylar’s brother Sirius was also tagged but died of natural causes in October 2017.
Ian Thomson, RSPB Scotland’s Head of Investigations said: “Yet again, a young harrier has disappeared close to a driven grouse moor, never to be seen or heard of again. This area of South Lanarkshire has been notorious for some years as a black hole into which protected birds of prey simply disappear.”
Skylar’s disappearance comes at a time when the Scottish Government has commissioned an independent enquiry into grouse shooting, including looking at options for greater regulation. A step change is now urgently required, as current laws and enforcement measures are proving inadequate to deal with such systematic criminality, and the negative cultural attitudes towards birds of prey that remains in many grouse moor areas. The most intensively managed “driven” grouse moors should be licenced, with sanctions to remove licences to operate, where the public authorities are satisfied that wildlife protection laws are being routinely flouted.”
Information about Skylar, or any illegal killing of birds of prey, can be reported to Police Scotland on 101 or the RSPB’s Raptor Crime hotline on 0300 999 0101.
ENDS
The last known location of this satellite-tagged hen harrier has been given as an area of rough grassland fringing a grouse moor a few miles south of the village of Elvanfoot. There are a number of grouse moors in this area, the nearest being the Leadhills Estate in South Lanarkshire.
[RPUK map showing the boundary of the Leadhills Estate and its proximity to Elvanfoot. Map data from Andy Wightman’s Who Owns Scotland website]
Skylar’s suspicious disappearance follows the well rehearsed pattern of young satellite-tagged hen harriers in the UK as laid bare in this recent scientific publication (here).
The investigation in to her disappearance will follow a similar, well-rehearsed pattern. There will be insufficient evidence to charge any individual with killing this bird (no body, no tag) so the police have nowhere else to go with it.
Just like the hen harrier and short-eared owl that were seen shot and killed on grouse moors in this area in 2017, the buzzard that was found shot and killed in the area in 2018, the hen harrier that was found shot and killed on a grouse moor in this area in 2015. In fact there have been over 50 confirmed wildlife crimes in this area since 2003 and only two of those have resulted in a successful criminal prosecution (gamekeeper convicted in 2004 for shooting a short-eared owl; gamekeeper convicted in 2009 for laying out a poisoned bait).
2003 April: hen harrier shot [prosecution failed – inadmissible evidence]
2003 April: hen harrier eggs destroyed [prosecution failed – inadmissible evidence]
2004 May: buzzard shot [no prosecution]
2004 May: short-eared owl shot [gamekeeper convicted]
2004 June: buzzard poisoned (Carbofuran) [no prosecution]
2004 June: 4 x poisoned rabbit baits (Carbofuran) [no prosecution]
2004 June: crow poisoned (Carbofuran) [no prosecution]
2004 July: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran) [no prosecution]
2004 July: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran) [no prosecution]
2005 February: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran) [no prosecution]
2005 April: poisoned buzzard (Carbofuran) [no prosecution]
2005 June: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran) [no prosecution]
2005 June: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran) [no prosecution]
2006 February: poisoned buzzard (Carbofuran) [no prosecution]
2006 March: poisoned buzzard (Carbofuran) [no prosecution]
2006 March: poisoned pigeon bait (Carbofuran) [no prosecution]
2006 April: dead buzzard (persecution method unknown) [no prosecution]
2006 May: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran) [no prosecution]
2006 May: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran) [no prosecution]
2006 May: poisoned egg baits (Carbofuran) [no prosecution]
2006 June: poisoned buzzard (Carbofuran) [no prosecution]
2006 June: poisoned raven (Carbofuran) [no prosecution]
2006 June: 6 x poisoned rabbit baits (Carbofuran) [no prosecution]
2006 June: poisoned egg bait (Carbofuran) [no prosecution]
2006 September: 5 x poisoned buzzards (Carbofuran) [no prosecution]
2006 September: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran) [no prosecution]
2006 September: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran) [no prosecution]
2007 March: poisoned buzzard (Carbofuran) [no prosecution]
2007 April: poisoned red kite (Carbofuran) [no prosecution]
2007 May: poisoned buzzard (Carbofuran) [no prosecution]
2008 October: poisoned buzzard (Carbofuran) [listed as ‘Nr Leadhills’] [no prosecution]
2008 October: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran) [listed as ‘Nr Leadhills’] [no prosecution]
2008 November: 3 x poisoned ravens (Carbofuran) [listed as ‘Nr Leadhills’] [no prosecution]
2009 March: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran) [no prosecution]
2009 March: poisoned raven (Carbofuran) [no prosecution]
2009 April: poisoned rabbit bait (Carbofuran) [gamekeeper convicted]
2009 April: poisoned magpie (Carbofuran) [no prosecution]
2009 April: poisoned raven (Carbofuran) [no prosecution]
2010 October: short-eared owl shot [no prosecution]
2011 March: illegally-set clam trap [no prosecution]
2011 December: buzzard shot [no prosecution]
2012 October: golden eagle found shot (just over boundary with Buccleuch Estate) [no prosecution]
2013 May: shot otter found on estate [no prosecution]
2013 June: significant cache of pre-prepared poisoned baits found on estate [no prosecution]
2013 August: red kite found shot and critically-injured in Leadhills village [no prosecution]
2014 February: poisoned peregrine (Carbofuran) [‘Nr Leadhills’] [no prosecution]
2015 April: hen harrier ‘Annie’ found shot [Leadhills/Buccluech] [no prosecution]
2016 May: hen harrier ‘Chance’ ‘disappeared’ [Leadhills/Buccleuch] [no prosecution]
2017 May: walkers witness the shooting of a hen harrier [no prosecution]
2017 May: walkers witness the shooting of a short-eared owl [no prosecution]
2018 [pre-April]: buzzard found shot dead in Leadhills village [no prosecution]
Without evidence, it’s impossible to implicate any individual or estate that may have been involved in Skylar’s suspicious disappearance, but it’s crystal clear that raptor persecution has been taking place in the wider area for decades.
The Scottish Government is well aware of the history of illegal raptor persecution in this area. How much more evidence does it need? Why is this allowed to continue, without sanction?
Good news! Ravens venturing on to the grouse moors of Strathbraan in Highland Perthshire this year will NOT be the victims of an SNH-sanctioned kill-fest ‘just to see what happens’, as they were in 2018.
The so-called Strathbraan Community Collaboration for Waders (SCCW), also known as gamekeepers, submitted a revised licence application to SNH on 18 March 2019. We haven’t yet seen this licence application so we don’t know how many ravens they wanted to kill this year.
However, in an FoI response we received last night, SNH confirmed that the licence application did not meet the recommendations of SNH’s Scientific Advisory Committee and so SNH has rejected the application.
Full details about this year’s licence application, as well as the details of the Scientific Advisory Committee’s recommendations are due to be released to us by SNH on 10th May. It’ll be an interesting read and we’ll share relevant information on this blog.
Very obviously, we’re delighted that ravens will not be killed gratuitously (albeit under licence) on the grouse moors of Strathbraan this year and we’re also delighted to see SNH take its licensing responsibilities seriously, in stark contrast to last year.
However, just like last year, SNH has not been keen to communicate openly and transparently. It’s taken a bit of work to drag the news from SNH about its decision to reject this year’s licence application. Earlier this week we blogged about a series of FoI emails where we argued that SNH was withholding information unreasonably (see here).
There has been further correspondence since then, as follows:
From SNH, 30th April 2019:
To SNH, 1 May 2019:
From SNH, 2 May 2019:
Many thanks to our legal team Sindi Mules (Balfour & Manson) and Aidan O’Neill QC (Matrix Chambers) for their continued support of this case.
Thanks also to all those who supported the #Justice4Ravens crowdfunder last year – there is still money in the pot and it’s being used to pay for on-going legal advice.
A couple of days ago Chris Packham’s ‘penis hate mail’ was put up for auction on Ebay (see here).
After just a day the bids had already reached £2,550 but then yesterday Ebay accidentally removed the item.
Today, after apologising, Ebay has re-listed the item and so bidding is once again open. BID HERE
Please bid generously – all proceeds to Wild Justice. Auctions ends 8 May 18.03hrs.
UPDATE 13 May 2019: Chris Packham’s ‘penis hate mail’ raises £2,550.00 for Wild Justice! (here)
This is the death threat letter that was sent to Chris Packham on Monday:
There’s no ambiguity here. The menacing and disturbing content reveals a clear intent.
If you recognise the handwriting or know the identity of the person/people who sent it, please contact Hampshire Police immediately.
There’s an article about Chris’s reaction to these violent threats in today’s Mirror (here).
The manufactured hate campaign against Chris Packham, long generated and encouraged by certain organisations in the shooting lobby and their friends in the Government and media, has recently escalated following Wild Justice’s successful legal challenge last week and has now resulted in chilling death threats towards Chris.
The dead crows hanging off his gate didn’t phase him, and his reaction to a penis drawn on a block of wood that was sent to him was genius – auctioning it on Ebay to raise funds for Wild Justice’s next legal challenge (this has currently raised £2,350.00 with six days left to bid)
However, in an exclusive interview in today’s Mirror, Chris talks about his fears for his family after receiving a number of ‘suspicious packages’, later opened by the Police and found to contain human excrement (see here for interview).
Then this morning, during an interview on Good Morning Britain where Chris was explaining the rationale behind Wild Justice’s legal challenge and calling out the fake news on it, he revealed that he’d received death threats last night. (Interview available on ITV catchup here for next seven days: starts at 53.07 mins).
The police are investigating.
Having seen the death threats, they are credible, disturbing and chilling.
Whatever your view on Chris, his campaigning, his ethics, his TV presenting, this level of abuse and threat is intolerable. The shooting organisations (and one in particular) busily whipping up the hate frenzy against Chris should be demonstrating some leadership and taking immediate steps to calm down their members and behave with civil discourse.
As many of you will know, last year SNH authorised a mass raven cull on the grouse moors of Strathbraan in Highland Perthshire, just ‘to see what happens’.
The Scottish Raptor Study Group took on a legal challenge against SNH and the cull was eventually halted.
[Young ravens in a nest in Stirlingshire, photographed last week under licence by Dave Taylor]
SNH’s Scientific Advisory Committee comprehensively demolished the so-called science behind the cull (study apparently designed by GWCT) with comments such as it’s ‘completely inadequate’, ‘will fail to provide any meaningful scientific evidence’, ‘the methodology cited has not been followed’ and ‘seriously flawed’.
However, the threat of a potential new raven cull licence application has never gone away and for this reason we’ve been keeping tabs on SNH and the Strathbraan Community Collaboration for Waders (also known as gamekeepers).
Incredibly, it seems SNH has learned nothing from last year’s fiasco and still isn’t being transparent about what’s going on, even though this statutory nature advisory agency still claims to be “committed to openness and transparency“.
Here’s SNH’s response to one of our recent Freedom of Information requests asking about whether a licence application has been submitted this year and if so, whether SNH has granted another licence to permit the killing of ravens:
Hmm. The potential for SNH to delay responding in full to this FoI request until 28 May was highly unsatisfactory, especially if a licence to kill ravens has already been issued to the gamekeepers. It would mean we wouldn’t find out about that licence until 28 May, and thus any potential legal challenge wouldn’t be lodged until sometime in June, by which time most of the ravens would already have been killed so the legal challenge would become ‘academic’ and could potentially be thrown out of court.
With this in mind, the following email was sent to SNH on 25 April:
Dear XXXXX
Thank you for your response.
Whilst I accept that SNH needs to ensure personal data are redacted, I don’t accept that it should take a further 20 working days to provide the information requested for issues that do not involve redacting personal data.
Namely, questions 2, 4 and 5.
I would be grateful if SNH could respond these by tomorrow’s 20 day deadline please.
For clarity, here are those questions again:
2. Has SNH received a licence application to cull ravens in Strathbraan in 2019? If yes, on what date was the application received?
4. If a licence application for 2019 has been received, has SNH made a decision on the application and if so, what is that decision?
5. If SNH has not yet made a decision on a 2019 licence application, when does SNH anticipate the decision will be made?
Thank you.
ENDS
SNH responded the following day (26 April) with this:
Dear XXXXX
Thank you for getting in touch. Although the EIR legislation permits an additional 20 working days extension to the deadline for responding to an information request, in this case we are confident that it won’t take us that long to complete our response to your request. Your request is a priority, and we are working to get the whole response to you as soon as we can.
I will contact you again next week to give you an update on progress and an indication of when we expect to send the response to you.
Kind regards,
ENDS
Not good enough. A further email was sent to SNH on 26 April:
Over the weekend, Chris Packham received some hate mail as a response to last week’s news that General Licences are to be revised to make them lawful.
In his own inimitable style, Chris shared some of this hate mail in a video he posted on Twitter yesterday: https://twitter.com/ChrisGPackham/status/1122547980639322112
A day later, this video has received over half a million views, and counting.
It also resulted in this amazing headline (if you’d asked anyone at the start of the year to predict some of the year’s headlines, this one would never have made the list!) –
And here’s an excerpt from this article, reporting the transcript from Chris’s video:
Now, in a once in a lifetime opportunity, you have a chance to win this amazing piece of art/conservation history as Chris is auctioning it to raise funds for Wild Justice. As a special tribute to the penis artist, all proceeds will be used to help fund the group’s next legal challenge, because that’s what Chris thinks the artist would have wanted. A kind of poetic justice (thanks to @CharlieMoores for that one!).
Please give generously – we wouldn’t want the penis artist to think his/her (probably his) efforts were insignificant. Think of the pleasure he’ll get when he sees how much has been raised, all thanks to his sophisticated creativity!
Includes photos, description, dimensions and free delivery!
Bidding closes 6 May 2019 at 18.57hrs
UPDATE 1 May 2019: Yesterday, Ebay accidentally deleted this item from its site (top bid had reached £2,550). Today, Ebay has apologised and reinstated the item. Bidding has restarted (here).
UPDATE 13 May 2019: Chris Packham’s ‘penis hate mail’ raises £2,550.00 for Wild Justice! (here)
Raptor Persecution UK 