Ten days ago, following the news (here) that two white-tailed eagles from the Isle of Wight Reintroduction Project had been found dead in suspicious circumstances (one in Dorset, one in Sussex), Dorset Conservative MP Chris Loder published an extraordinary statement on Twitter, whipping up some Victorian anti-eagle hysteria by declaring that ‘Dorset isnot the place for eagles to be reintroduced‘ and suggested that Dorset Police shouldn’t waste ‘time and resources‘ on investigating (see here and here).
Twitter went in to meltdown and the story was picked up by several national newspapers, including the Independent and the Guardian.
The story prompted a new hashtag on social media, #BirdsOfPreyWelcome, with people from around the country sharing stories about how welcome birds of prey are in various locations.
Conservation group Wild Justice launched a Twitter poll (runs for three more days, here); the results so far indicate overwhelming support for birds of prey.
But given the ongoing persecution of raptors across the UK, Wild Justice is also asking members of the public to email/write to their elected representatives, whether they be in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, to ask whether they, too, support birds of prey.
Wild Justice has provided some guidance about what your email/letter might look like (here).
I’d encourage as many of you as possible to participate. We know that letter-writing campaigns like this can be incredibly powerful when enough people get involved. It sends a clear message to our elected representatives that raptor persecution is an issue of concern that needs addressing.
Yesterday, Dorset MP Chris Loder’s Twitter notifications must have been off the scale as hundreds of angry people took him to task for his shocking comments (here) about not wanting Dorset Police to investigate the suspicious death of a white-tailed eagle, found dead on a Dorset shooting estate in January (here).
[The dead white-tailed eagle being collected for post mortem. Photo by Dorset Police]
Last night Chris Loder added fuel to the fire by posting this on Twitter:
This ridiculous statement (“plaguing our farmers“, FFS!) attracted plenty of well-deserved ridicule but it also generated even more anger and in some cases, unfortunately, personal abuse towards Mr Loder. But even when photographer Pete Cairns pointed out that the two photos of the eagle with a lamb had been staged, by Pete, for a separate project and then mis-used to illustrate the Scotsmanarticle to which Mr Loder was referring, (this was a captive eagle with an already-dead lamb placed in front of it), Mr Loder was not for backing down.
It’s a familiar argument, of course, to those of us who have listened for years to prejudicial-driven hysteria about white-tailed eagles, although typically this has come from the Scottish Gamekeepers Association (who remembers them writing to the Scottish Government warning that sea eagles might not be able to distinguish small children from prey?!) but to hear it from an elected MP in southern England was quite a shock, especially a Conservative MP whose senior Ministers keep pretending that bird of prey conservation is important to them (e.g. see here and here).
However, even DEFRA Minister Richard Benyon could read the room on this one and yesterday typed a suitably-exasperated tweet to Chris Loder, which was probably code for, ‘Shut up, you’re not doing us any favours here’:
I’d speculated yesterday that perhaps Chris Loder’s dissatisfaction that Dorset Police’s time and resources were being put towards an investigation into the suspicious death of the sea eagle might have something to do with the fact that the Conservatives have received substantial local party donations, over a number of years, from a prominent Dorset estate that just happens to be owned by a very wealthy landowner who appears to be part of the hunting set and whose spouse appears to have played a prominent role with the Countryside Alliance (here).
That may well be part of the story, but it’s also clear from his posts last night and from online information about his farming background that he’s susceptible to, and believes in, the anti-eagle propaganda routinely pumped out by the National Farmers Union, an organisation who refused, formally, to support the Isle of Wight Eagle Reintroduction Project because of a perceived fear of the impact the eagles would have on livestock, despite extensive consultation and evidence-based assurances by the project team that live sheep would not be at high risk. [But note that not all farmers agreed with the NFU’s stance and a number are supportive of the project].
This morning I’ve been sent some more information that suggests Chris Loder’s position may also be influenced by his family’s farming connections. Detailed research undertaken by Guy Shrubsole (author of the brilliant website Who Owns England) has revealed that Chris Loder’s family appears to run a tenanted farm on a large Dorset estate (a different estate to the one that’s been making donations to the local Conservative party) and on that estate there’s also a sizeable pheasant shoot.
As before, there is no suggestion whatsoever that either Chris Loder, his family, or the estate on which his family runs a tenanted farm, has anything whatsoever to do with the death of the white-tailed eagle in Dorset. What I am suggesting is that it is worth bearing in mind that when Chris Loder is proclaiming eagles as the farmers’ enemy and pronouncing that the police shouldn’t be spending time and resources on investigating the suspicious death of one of those eagles, found dead on a Dorset game-shooting estate, it’s worth remembering these vested interests of his.
And as interesting as this all is, I think it’s also a distraction from the main topic of interest here, and that is, when are we going to see the toxicology report of the dead eagle found on a game-shooting estate in Dorset in January and the dead eagle found on a game-shooting estate in Sussex last October?
And on that same subject, when will Natural England release the post mortem results of the two satellite-tagged hen harriers found dead in October last year (see here)? Or tell us about the investigation into the satellite-tagged hen harrier that probably had its wings pulled off 11 months ago (see here)?
Further to yesterday’s news that two reintroduced white-tailed eagles have been found dead in suspicious circumstances on game-shooting estates in southern England and that Dorset Police are investigating the circumstances of the one found in Dorset (here), local conservative MP Chris Loder has made an extraordinary statement on Twitter this morning.
[The dead white-tailed eagle found in Dorset. Photo from Dorset Police]
Here’s his tweet:
Is this guy for real?
This is a suspected wildlife crime of a very serious nature. The three most common methods for killing birds of prey on UK game-shooting estates are shooting, trapping (and then clubbing to death) and poisoning. We don’t know which of these methods, if any, have been deployed in this case but all are potential features of the case. The fact that Dorset Police have stated the eagle has gone for toxicology analysis suggests that poisoning is a possibility.
The poisons most frequently used to kill birds of prey in this country are highly toxic substances – banned in many countries because they’re so dangerous that just a tiny amount is enough to kill a human. The effects of using poisonous baits are indiscriminate. Not only may the baits kill the target species but any other species that happens to come into contact with it, or any pet dog, or any inquisitive human, including a child.
If the eagle has been shot, there’s a dangerous armed individual on the loose in Dorset.
If the eagle has been trapped and clubbed to death, there’s a dangerous psychopath on the loose in Dorset.
Why on earth wouldn’t Mr Loder MP want Dorset Police to spend time and resources investigating this incident?
It wouldn’t have anything to do with the local conservative party receiving donations from a prominent Dorset estate, would it? [Note: I am not in any way suggesting that the donor estate is linked to the death of this eagle, I’m pointing out that on the Parliamentary register of interests Mr Loder has listed substantial party donations from a Dorset estate whose owner appears to be linked to ‘country sports’].
Dorset Police’s Rural Crime Team have hit back at Mr Loder:
Mr Loder’s response:
FFS. As if it isn’t difficult enough for under-staffed, under-resourced police officers to investigate wildlife crime. Imagine being on this rural crime team, which, by the way, has a deserved reputation for being diligent and sincere when dealing with alleged raptor persecution crimes, trying to get to the bottom of what will be one of the highest profile cases this year, under huge public pressure to deliver results (quite rightly, IMHO), and the local MP publishes demoralising tosh like this.
Well it took longer than I expected but it’s happened.
Two of the reintroduced white-tailed eagles from the Isle of Wight Project have been found dead in suspicious circumstances on game-shooting estates in southern England.
The fact they were discovered during multi-agency searches is a clear indication that criminality is suspected. One was found in Dorset in January and the other one is believed to have been found in Sussex last October.
Toxicology results are awaited for both eagles, although why it’s taken four months for the results from the first bird is not yet clear.
[The dead white-tailed eagle found on a game-shooting estate in Dorset. Photo by Dorset Police]
There is huge concern for the safety of three other white-tailed eagles currently in Dorset, which I imagine is why the police have decided to issue this statement:
UPDATE 11th February 2022: Dorset MP Chris Loder doesn’t want Police to investigate suspicious death of white-tailed eagle (here)
UPDATE 12th February 2022: Dorset MP Chris Loder’s farming connections may explain his anti-eagle hysteria (here)
UPDATE 15th February 2022: Police investigate after sudden death of white-tailed eagle on Isle of Wight (here)
UPDATE 27th April 2022: White-tailed eagle poisoned with banned pesticide on a game-shooting estate in West Sussex (here)
Raptor Persecution UK 