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‘No evidence’ of gamekeepers persecuting hen harriers, says Moorland Association

As a prelude to this evening’s programme about the illegal persecution of hen harriers, there was a short piece on BBC Radio Newcastle this morning.

In an astonishing interview, the secretary of the Moorland Association (the representative body of grouse moor owners) suggests that there is ‘no evidence’ of gamekeepers being involved with the illegal persecution of hen harriers.

Fortunately, Guy Shorrock of the RSPB’s Investigations Team was on-hand to provide an eloquent and well-informed rebuttal.

It’s remarkable that the Moorland Association are still in denial, even though we’re all well aware that this species is on the very brink of becoming extinct as a breeding species in England. It’s especially remarkable given that the Moorland Association have been party to the Hen Harrier Dialogue – the discussion process set up specifically to find ways of addressing the conflict between grouse moor management and hen harriers (now in its 7th year). We’ll be blogging about the latest news from the Hen Harrier Dialogue shortly – and given the Moorland Association’s flat denial that hen harrier persecution exists, you won’t be surprised to find out the latest development…

Meanwhile, listen to this morning’s radio interview (here, starts at 1.25.30 and ends at 1.31.06) and be sure to watch the tv programme this evening (here).

Photograph below shows a hen harrier being removed from an illegally-set trap on a Scottish grouse moor in 2010. This bird was lucky – he survived. Nobody was prosecuted for setting the illegal trap.

Hen harrier being removed from illegal trap on Moy Estate

Convicted gamekeeper has membership ‘suspended’

filesLast week we blogged about North Yorks gamekeeper Shaun Leslie Allanson, who was convicted of committing wildlife crimes on the Blansby Park Estate (see here). We wondered at the time whether Allanson was a member of the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation (NGO), the English/Welsh equivalent of the Scottish Gamekeepers’ Association.

Well, it turns out that he was indeed a member at the time he commited those offences.

In a very welcome turn of events, the NGO have issued a public statement about Allanson (see here). Following his conviction, they immediately ‘suspended’ his NGO membership. Now, this isn’t as good as immediately booting him out and banning him from ever re-joining the organisation, but it is a good start.

According to the NGO’s disciplinary procedure (see here), Allanson will remain suspended until the NGO’s National Committee have a chance to meet and discuss the details of his case, and based on that meeting he will either be expelled or re-admitted. We will watch with interest to see what decision they make.

The NGO deserve some credit here. Regular blog followers will know that after previous cases of convicted gamekeepers we have struggled to get the relevant ‘professional body’ (i.e. the NGO or the SGA) to make any public comment at all. On this occasion though, the NGO took very swift public action without us having to spend weeks badgering them to do so. We blogged quite recently about the need for greater leadership amongst the game-shooting bodies and it looks as though the message has finally got through, to the NGO at least. They don’t often give us cause to congratulate them but this time they have. Well done to them.

Hen harrier plight to feature on BBC this evening

BBCInsideOutBBC 1’s Inside Out programme this evening will feature the plight of the hen harrier.

The programme’s preview notes say the following: “And as hen harriers disappear from northern hills, might Scotland have found a way to stop persecution?”

Er, unless the Scottish Government has finally decided to implement a licensing scheme for so-called ‘sporting estates’, or mandatory prison terms have been brought in for those found guilty of raptor persecution, then the answer has to be a resounding NO! Scotland has not found a way to stop persecution, even though it’s almost sixty years since raptors were given legal protection.

We very much hope that this programme doesn’t try to suggest that vicarious liability is the answer. It isn’t. For vicarious liability to work, the individual who actually committed the crime still has to be identified before his/her employer can be charged. This is virtually impossible in too many cases, especially on the larger sporting estates where there are multiple gamekeepers who will all deny any knowledge of any criminal activity. Identifying the individual criminal would be possible if various legal obstacles were removed (like the admission of covert video footage showing the individual commiting the crime), but so far those with the power to implement such change seem unwilling to make an effort.

Nevertheless, it’s great that the BBC have chosen to highlight the shocking status of the hen harrier, and in a primetime viewing slot, so well done to them for that.

The programme is a regional one (North East and Cumbria) but will be available on iPlayer for those who miss the actual programme.

Click here to go to the Inside Out webpage and follow the links to watch the episode on-line after this evening’s show.

Shot peregrine released back to wild after treatment

_66033291_peregrineA peregrine falcon was found with a broken wing in January – apparently it had been shot. It has now been nursed back to health and released back into the wild at the location where it was found.

According to the BBC (see here), the injured peregrine was found ‘in a field near a local shoot’ in Salwick, near Preston. Kudos to Turbary Woods Owl and Bird Sanctuary for their efforts in this bird’s recovery.

This is a good news story, in that a wild peregrine has been successfully rehabilitated and released, but disturbingly, this incident can be added to what looks like a growing trend in a different method of persecution – shooting. Has anyone else noticed this? In recent months there have been quite a few reported shootings, including golden eagles, hen harriers, red kites and buzzards. Is it a real trend or is the media just getting more savvy at reporting these incidents?

Reported poisoning incidents are dropping, of that there’s no doubt. Whether that’s a reflection of a downturn in actual poisoning incidents or simply an indication that gamekeepers are getting smarter at hiding the evidence remains to be seen. The cynical amongst us may believe that the method of persecution has simply been switched…

Northumberland gamekeeper cautioned for trap offences

Yes folks, here’s another one…

RSPB press release:

A gamekeeper from Northumberland has been cautioned by Northumbria Police after failing to attend and properly check a crow cage trap over a fifteen day period in December last year.  The trap had captured three buzzards on one occasion.

RSPB covert surveillance cameras monitored the trap belonging to a shoot in South West Northumberland and found that the trap operator had failed to attend the trap at any point during the filming. Footage showed the trap had captured three buzzards.  All three buzzards were released unharmed, two by passing members of the public and the third by the RSPB.  The video footage later showed the third buzzard had been in the cage trap for two days.

Investigations by Northumbria police, assisted by the RSPB, identified the trap operator, who during a police interview admitted to failing to check the trap properly each day and failing to release the third buzzard out of the trap. Failure to operate the trap lawfully is contrary to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

Howard Jones from RSPB investigations stated: “It is unknown how these buzzards would have fared if they had not been released.  It further highlights the issue of birds of prey being attracted to crow cage traps and the vital importance that operators responsibly manage their traps.”

PC Colin Heath of Northumbria Police who led the investigation added: “We will continue to work closely with the RSPB to promote and protect our wild birds and to deal with offenders accordingly.”

Unfortunately, we are unable to name the gamekeeper as he’s been cautioned. We also need to be cautious in naming the location, although we can say it was a family-run shoot.

The big question is, why did this keeper only get a caution? Why wasn’t he charged and prosecuted?

Would you believe it, another guilty gamekeeper!

Another day, another location, another criminal gamekeeper, another wildlife crime conviction, another shit sentence.

This time it’s gamekeeper Shaun Leslie Allanson (37), convicted of crow cage trap misuse on the Blansby Park Estate, nr Pickering, North Yorkshire.

Today at Scarborough Magistrates Court, this ‘professional’ pleaded guilty to intentionally taking a buzzard using a live pigeon in a cage trap on 28 Aug 2012, and using a cage trap with a live pigeon decoy between 31 Aug and 19 Sept.

His punishment? 120 hours community service and £85 costs. Wonder if he’s a member of the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation? We’ll do some asking….

There’s a fuller story in the Telegraph here.

Well done North Yorkshire Police and well done to the Natural England employee who first recognised the crow trap was being used illegally and for releasing the buzzard to safety.

Scottish gamekeepers ‘striving to be the best in Europe’

Scottish Gamekeepers’ Association Chairman Alex Hogg has published his latest blog today. It’s a classic.

“It gives me great pride to know that we, as professional wildlife managers, are striving to be the best in Europe. Nowhere else will you find such a rich diversity in such a small area. This is down to Keepers protecting Scotland’s flora and fauna“.

Unfortunately he doesn’t specify what they are striving to be the best at.

He also mentions a recent police wildlife conference held in Galashiels, and suggests that the large turn-out “showed that Keepers are keen to gather information and the take-up on courses such as snaring and deer competence is very high“.

That’s interesting, because according to a recent parliamentary question and answer session, less than one third of the snaring operators in Scotland have attended the compulsory two-hour snaring course required to comply with new regulations that begin on 1st April 2013. As Libby Anderson of OneKind put so succinctly:

“1,376 snare users have attended, out of a shooting industry estimate of 5,000 snare operators. Will the remaining 3,624 be trained by 1st April, given that it has taken over two years to train the first third?”

Sounds like the courts may be busy this year if visitors to the countryside notice any snares that do not have an ID tag attached (the ID tag is issued by the police to the individual snare user, but only if the user can produce a certificate to show completion of an approved snaring training course). If you spot a snare in use in Scotland after 1st April, check to see whether it’s got an ID tag attached. If it hasn’t, report it to the police!

He also mentions ‘the fact that Keepers must read the conditions of the General Licence before trapping any crows“. That’s not actually a true ‘fact’, Alex. SNH, in their wisdom, decided to drop the requirement that the GLs must be ‘read’ – instead, the user must simply ‘understand’. This change was the result of lobbying from a number of game-shooting organisations, who claimed that the old requirement (to read the conditions) was discriminatory against anyone who couldn’t read. We suspect the real reason was to exploit some sort of legal loophole to avoid a future conviction for misuse, but that remains to be seen.

Anyway, the latest Hogg blog can be read here – we only wish he’d write more frequently….

Derbyshire police & crime commissioner backs fight against wildlife crime

Some good news! The new Derbyshire Police and Crime Commissioner Alan Charles has met with the RSPB and re-iterated his manifesto pledge to tackle wildlife crime and cruelty to animals.

This is excellent news, considering his area covers the notorious raptor persecution hotspot in the High Peak, including the Derwent Valley where the populations of several raptor species have crashed after years of relentless persecution.

Alan Charles said: “I am determined that Derbyshire Police should provide a robust response to incidents of wildlife crime reported to us. We should all be able to enjoy the fantastic spectacle of birds of prey like peregrines, goshawks and buzzards soaring overhead when we are out enjoying the beautiful Derbyshire countryside. Those who destroy these amazing birds are diminishing our quality of life“.

For the full press release, see here.

wildlife estates scotland initiative: credible or crap?

untitled1There’s been a bit of a buzz on Twitter this evening about the Scottish Land and Estates-led initiative, Wildlife Estates Scotland. Apparently the accreditation scheme was launched today by Environment Minister Paul Wheelhouse and SNH Chairman Andrew Thin. Nothing yet on the Scottish Land and Estates website but no doubt they’ll be making a big song and dance about it in the coming days.

Hmm. So what do we know about this grand scheme? We blogged about it in 2011 (see here).

We know the main objective is “to demonstrate unequivocally that estates and farms across Scotland are producers of integrated solutions for positive land management and biodiversity“. (Producers of integrated solutions? Christ, who writes this stuff?)

We know that the scheme was first mooted at the end of 2010, just when it looked like the Scottish Government might have been persuaded to endorse an estate-licensing scheme to combat the continuing problem of illegal raptor persecution, as part of the WANE Bill discussions. Coincidental timing? Probably not. The game-shooting industry were up against the ropes and recognised they had to do something to prevent an estate-licensing scheme being forced upon them. Da-da! The Wildlife Estates Initiative was born and the Scottish Government dropped any thoughts of an estate-licensing scheme, for the time being at least.

Since then it has been run as a pilot scheme on a few named (safe) estates in Scotland (see here for the SLE aims and objectives) and now, apparently, it’s being rolled out for other estates to sign up to.

We also know that the WES already has “250 signed up members, from small and medium-sized farms, up to large estates and reserves” (see SLE briefing note here).

It could be a credible scheme, but some answers need to be provided before anyone believes it:

1. Who is going to undertake the biodiversity evaluation of these signed-up estates to ascertain whether they merit accreditation as a Wildlife Estate Scotland?

2. Will the evaluator(s) be an independent body or an organisation with close links to the game-shooting fraternity?

3. Who are the ‘250 signed up members’? Unless the names of these 250 are released for public scrutiny, then this scheme has zero credibility. There needs to be 100% transparency for anyone to take this seriously. Without it, it looks like just another failed attempt at making the game-shooting industry look like they’re cleaning up their act (a bit like this).

We look forward to Scottish Land and Estates publishing the details of the 250 signed up members in due course and we especially look forward to scrutinising each and every one of them.

UPDATE 21st Feb: Scottish Land & Estates have put out a press statement about their ‘conservation crusade’ here.

Environment Minister Paul Wheelhouse’s full statement can be read here.

Update on case against 3 Morvich Estate gamekeepers

00143855Last November we blogged about three Scottish gamekeepers facing charges of alleged wildlife crime on Morvich Estate, Sutherland; charges which they all denied (see here).

There was an interim diet heard today at Dornoch Sheriff Court in the case against Mathew Ian Johnston (20) of Morvich House, Morvich Estate, Rogart, Jamie Robert Neal (37) of The Bothy, Morvich Estate, Rogart and William Robert Docharty (57) of 10 Elizabeth Court, Dornoch.

Previously, a trial date had been set for 19th March. This has now changed. There will be a further diet (a procedural hearing where a number of things are checked) on 13th May, and based on the outcome of that hearing, the trial will begin on 9th July 2013.