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Golden eagle (‘Alma’) found poisoned on Millden Estate, Angus

Here is 2-year old Alma, dead on a grouse moor after being poisoned. Her satellite tag is visible on her back. No arrests have been made for this wildlife crime.

A two-year old golden eagle named ‘Alma’ was found poisoned on the Millden Estate, nr Brechin, Angus, in July 2009. Alma was wearing a satellite tag fitted by Roy Dennis as part of a study to monitor golden eagle movements in Scotland.

According to The Guardian, the Millden Estate is managed by Nick Baikie, a grouse moor manager who is reported to have been previously employed by Mark Osborne, an Oxfordshire-based chartered surveyor. Grouse moors run by Osborne in Scotland and England have previously been raided by police investigating alleged wildlife crime offences. Milden is one of several sporting estates in Glen Esk. It is thought to be owned by multi-millionaire investment banker Richard Hanson, who bought it in 2004: http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-21868070_ITM

Police searched the Millden Estate, including the grouse moor and the gamekeepers’ cottages. No arrests have been made.

Further details can be found in an article written in the Guardian newspaper: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jul/30/conservation-scotland

buzzard found poisoned on Gledfield Estate, nr Ardgay, Sutherland

A buzzard was found posioned on the Gledfield Estate nr Ardgay in Sutherland on 24 July 2009. This is the third buzzard to be found poisoned on this shooting estate in the last 12 months.

The full story can be found on the BBC news website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/8166855.stm

RSPB deliver petition to Scottish government

Congratulations to the RSPB for running a successful petition calling for an end to raptor persecution, both in Scotland and the rest of the UK.

On 2 March 2010, a petition containing almost 22,000 Scottish signatures was handed in to MSPs. Click this link to view the story on the BBC news website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8543983.stm

This follows hot on the heels of a UK-wide RSPB petition containing 210,567 signatures calling for an end to illegal raptor persecution that was handed in to MPs in London on Feb 3 2010. In addition to these personal signatures, 30 organisations also signed in support. Notably, the list did not include the Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA).

Let’s hope the Scottish government accepts that this issue is important to thousands of people and keeps its recent pledges to make raptor persecution a priority issue.

Campaigners hold aloft a giant peregrine at the Scottish Parliament as the RSPB petition is handed to ministers.

Welcome!

This golden eagle was poisoned in the Scottish Borders in August 2007. No-one has been prosecuted.

Welcome to the new blog about raptor persecution in Scotland. We will be using this site to expose the persistent persecution of Scottish raptors (such as golden eagles, white-tailed eagles, red kites, hen harriers, buzzards, goshawks, peregrines, owls etc), and to monitor how each incident is handled by those responsible for preventing wildlife crime (e.g. police, courts, government). Although our focus is on raptor persecution in Scotland, we will also be documenting incidents in other parts of the UK and Ireland.

We started this blog to provide a central location for information on persecution incidents and subsequent prosecutions, as at present this information is difficult to find unless you know where to look (usually in several different places).

We hope to raise awareness about the shocking continuation of raptor persecution incidents in Scotland; a barbaric practice that has been going on for decades and now threatens the stability of several raptor populations. There is strong scientific evidence to demonstrate a clear link between raptor persecution and grouse moors (i.e. gamekeepers consider raptors to be ‘vermin’), and even though raptors are legally protected, the killing continues. We would like to emphasise that not all gamekeepers are guilty of wildlife crime – many are actively involved with raptor and other wildlife conservation projects in Scotland, but many are not.