Category: 2024 persecution incidents

Three more satellite-tagged hen harriers have gone ‘missing’ & two more found dead, awaiting post mortem

Natural England has just published its latest update on the fates of the satellite-tracked hen harriers it has tagged and subsequently been tracking. This latest update (dated Dec 2024) shows that since its last update (Aug 2024 but actually published in Sept 2024), three more hen harriers have gone ‘missing’ and two more have been found dead and are awaiting post-mortem.

Once again, I haven’t seen any press releases or appeals for information about any of these incidents, either from Natural England or the police.

Sky-dancing hen harriers. Photo by Pete Walkden

Here are the details of the latest hen harriers listed as ‘missing’:

  1. Female hen harrier named ‘Dreich’, Tag ID: 254842, last known transmission date 1 October 2024 in Lanarkshire. Listed by NE as ‘Missing Fate Unknown, site confidential – ongoing investigation‘.
  2. Male hen harrier named ‘Baldur’, Tag ID: 240291, last known transmission date 15 October 2024 in Northumberland. Listed by NE as ‘Missing Fate Unknown, site confidential – ongoing investigation‘.
  3. Female hen harrier named ‘Margaret’, Tag ID: 254844, last known transmission date 19 October 2024 in Northumberland. Listed by NE as ‘Missing Fate Unknown, site confidential – ongoing investigation‘.

I’ll be adding these three birds to my long-running tally of hen harriers that are known to have been illegally killed and/or have ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances since 2018.

Here are the details of the latest hen harriers listed by NE as found dead and awaiting post mortem:

  1. Male hen harrier named ‘Chance’, Tag ID: 254840, last known transmission date 8 August 2024 in Cumbria. Listed by NE as ‘Recovered awaiting PM‘.
  2. Female hen harrier named ‘Sofia’, Tag ID: 34346, last known transmission date 3 October 2024 in Northumberland. Listed by NE as ‘Recovered awaiting PM‘.

I won’t add these two birds to my tally of missing/illegally killed hen harriers just yet because the circumstances of their deaths have not yet been published. They join the other four dead hen harriers whose corpses were found earlier in 2024 (see here) but whose causes of death have not yet been published. They are:

  1. Female hen harrier named ‘Susie’, Tag ID: 201122. Last known transmission 12 February 2024, Northumberland. Found dead. Site confidential. In NE’s April 2024 update, Susie was listed as, ‘recovered, awaiting post mortem‘. Now her listing says, ‘Ongoing police investigation, final transmission location temporarily withheld at police request‘. You might remember ‘Susie’ – she’s the hen harrier whose chicks were brutally stamped on and crushed to death in their nest on a grouse moor in Whernside in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, in June 2022 (here).
  2. Female hen harrier named ‘Edna’, Tag ID: 161143a. Last known transmission 7 June 2024, Northumberland. Listed by NE as ‘Recovered, awaiting post mortem‘.
  3. Female hen harrier, Tag ID: 254843. Last known transmission 29 July 2024, Northumberland. Listed by NE as ‘Recovered, awaiting post mortem‘.
  4. Male hen harrier, Tag ID: 254839. Last known transmission 5 August 2024, Northumberland. Listed by NE as ‘Recovered, awaiting post mortem‘.

I won’t be holding my breath waiting for NE to publish the post mortem results and inform us whether any of these additional six hen harriers died of natural causes or were the victims of illegal persecution. As we saw in December 2024 (here), it took NE 18 and 20 months respectively to reveal that two brood meddled hen harriers that had been previously listed as ‘Missing Fate Unknown’ had actually been found dead, their corpses containing two and three shotgun pellets respectively.

I’ll be writing more about hen harrier brood meddling shortly, but first it’s time to update the death list, which now stands at 133 hen harriers confirmed ‘missing’ or illegally killed in the UK since 2018, mostly on or close to grouse moors. If the six dead hen harriers currently still awaiting post mortems turn out to have been illegally killed, the death list will stand at 139 hen harriers.

If you’re sick to the back teeth of watching the death list expand, and the grouse moor owners and gamekeepers continue to escape prosecution for their crimes, please sign Wild Justice’s latest petition calling for a ban on driven grouse shooting. The petition runs until 22 May 2024 and currently stands at 53,000 signatures. If it reaches 100,000 signatures it will be considered for a debate in Westminster Hall. Please sign the petition HERE and then share it! Thank you.

NatureScot fails to make any compliance checks on use of new grouse moor licences

As many of you will be aware, the 2024 grouse shooting season in Scotland (12 Aug – 10 Dec 2024) saw the use of grouse moor licences for the first time ever, introduced by the Wildlife Management & Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024 passed by the Scottish Parliament in March 2024.

For new readers, this Act was introduced as the Scottish Government’s response to the continued widespread illegal killing of birds of prey on grouse moors. It works on the basis that all red grouse shooting must now be licensed in Scotland under a section 16AA licence and if, on the civil burden of proof (i.e. on the balance of probability) sufficient evidence is found that the licence has been breached (including evidence of illegal raptor persecution), the licence can be withdrawn as a sanction, preventing the shooting of red grouse on a particular estate for a period of up to five years.

The licences have already been weakened significantly by NatureScot after a legal threat from the game-shooting industry (see here) and I’ll be writing more about that, probably later this week.

Red grouse photo by Pete Walkden

As part of the new grouse moor licensing scheme, NatureScot published a Code of Practice for Grouse Moor Management (also known as the Grouse Code) which sets out the legal requirements associated with managing land for killing and/or taking red grouse.

The Wildlife Management & Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024 requires that a licence holder comply with the Grouse Code. Non-adherence to the Grouse Code could result in a licensing sanction and/or suspension or revocation. Here is the Grouse Code:

Guidance – Code of Practice for Grouse Moor Management _ NatureScot 2024Download

You’ll note on pages 2-3 of the Grouse Code that it includes a section on compliance monitoring.

Stating the obvious, NatureScot says, ‘Compliance monitoring is a key aspect of any licensing approach‘ and then outlines the types of compliance monitoring checks it says it will conduct:

Sounds reassuringly comprehensive, doesn’t it?

However, in recent months I’ve learned that NatureScot can’t be trusted (more on that soon!) so rather than rely on what NatureScot says it will do with regard to Grouse Code compliance checks, I decided to find it what it actually did by submitting an FoI request as follows:

  1. In relation to the 2024 grouse shooting season (12 Aug – 10 Dec 2024), how many licences did NatureScot issue for grouse shooting?
  2. Of those licences, how many compliance checks were undertaken by NatureScot in relation to adherence to the Grouse Code of Practice? Please break down these results to show the number of (a) desk top checks, (b) on-site visits, and (c) checks via accreditation schemes.
  3. Of those compliance checks, how many licence holders were found to have committed (a) minor breaches and (b) significant breaches?

Here is NatureScot’s response:

So, NatureScot issued 264 grouse shooting licences for the 2024 season and says that 14 ‘were either cancelled, revoked or withdrawn‘. I’m guessing that none of them were ‘cancelled’ or ‘revoked’, but rather all 14 were ‘withdrawn’ by the licence applicant, probably as a result of the threatened legal challenge against NatureScot by the grouse-shooting industry that resulted in a narrowing of the licensable area, so perhaps some licence holders withdrew their original licence applications and submitted revised applications showing the more limited boundary.

Whatever the reason, I’m quite confident that no licences have been ‘cancelled’ or ‘revoked’ by NatureScot because if they had, NatureScot would have publicised it on its website in the same way it does for General Licence restrictions. I suspect in this case, NatureScot has deliberately included the words ‘cancelled’ and ‘revoked’ in its FoI response in an attempt to infer enforcement action when actually it hasn’t done any enforcement whatsoever.

That leaves 250 grouse shooting licences that NatureScot issued for the 2024 grouse shooting season. Of those, NatureScot didn’t undertake one single compliance check.

That’s astonishing, given that the Scottish Parliament introduced grouse shoot licensing on the basis that many grouse moor owners and managers couldn’t be trusted to abide by the law, despite years of warnings that if they didn’t stop illegally killing birds of prey they’d face imposed regulations. Given this long history of criminality, you’d think that compliance monitoring would be fundamental.

Regulation, in this case licensing, is only as strong as the associated compliance monitoring efforts and subsequent enforcement action. We’ve already seen the illegal shooting of an osprey (here) and a peregrine (here) since the licensing scheme began, and no sign of any subsequent enforcement action, which suggests that the licensing scheme simply isn’t an effective mechanism for stopping The Untouchables. NatureScot’s failure to undertake a single licence compliance check is playing right into their hands.

“This has to stop” – North Pennines National Landscape Director denounces ongoing hen harrier persecution

A few weeks ago just before Xmas, Natural England published an update on the fates of three brood meddled satellite-tracked hen harriers: one that had been found dead in north Devon on 5th March 2024 (it died of natural causes) and two that had both vanished within a week of each other from a winter roost site in the North Pennines in December 2022 and whose gunshot-riddled corpses were later found in April and June 2023 (see here).

An illegally killed hen harrier. Photo by Ruth Tingay

Both of these shot hen harriers were found in the North Pennines National Landscape (previously known as an AONB, Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) and the North Pennines NL was quick to highlight these ongoing crimes by posting a statement on its website the following day.

The Director of the North Pennines NL, Chris Woodley-Stewart, has long been proactively involved in raising awareness about raptor persecution in the area (e.g. see here) and he’s quoted in the North Pennines NL statement as follows:

“It has taken some time to come to light and given that the bodies were on the ground for months before being found, the precise cause of death is uncertain. However, the two birds were found with lead shot in them, near to a North Pennines roost site.

“Whatever the conclusion about the explicit cause of death, the shotgun pellets tell an unequivocal story of illegality. Someone shot these birds with the intent of ending their lives; why else do it? This, regardless of the ultimate cause of death, is evidence of ongoing illegal raptor persecution in the North Pennines.

“This has to stop. We will continue to work with others to raise awareness and support practical action where we can. We’re asking, as always, for anyone with information about any incidents of raptor persecution, to come forward using the confidential hotline“.

The confidential hotline Chris mentioned is the RSPB’s Raptor Crime Hotline, Tel: 0300 999 0101, for sensitive information specifically relating to the illegal targeting of birds of prey.

Meanwhile, we’re still waiting for Natural England to provide updates / post mortem results on four other satellite-tagged hen harriers that were found dead during the first eight months of 2024, and all four of them in Northumberland:

Hen harrier ‘Susie’, female, Tag ID 201122. Last known transmission 12 February 2024, Northumberland. Found dead. Site confidential. In NE’s April 2024 update, Susie was listed as, ‘recovered, awaiting post mortem‘. In NE’s August 2024 update her listing says, ‘Ongoing police investigation, final transmission location temporarily withheld at police request‘. You might remember ‘Susie’ – she’s the hen harrier whose chicks were brutally stamped on and crushed to death in their nest on a grouse moor in Whernside in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, in June 2022 (here).

Hen harrier ‘Edna’, female, Tag ID 161143a. Last known transmission 7 June 2024, Northumberland. ‘Recovered, awaiting post mortem‘.

Hen harrier, female, Tag ID 254843. Last known transmission 29 July 2024, Northumberland. ‘Recovered, awaiting post mortem‘.

Hen harrier, male, Tag ID 254839. Last known transmission 5 August 2024, Northumberland. ‘Recovered, awaiting post mortem‘.

Natural England last updated its online database of satellite-tagged hen harriers in August 2024. That was five months ago, so who knows how many more may have ‘disappeared’ or been found illegally killed since then?

We know of at least one more killed, as revealed exclusively by Channel 4 News in October 2024 when it published covert footage filmed by the RSPB of three gamekeepers on an undisclosed grouse moor in northern England discussing the shooting of an untagged hen harrier and casually chatting to one another about other protected species they’d shot that same afternoon (see here). The police haven’t released any information about a subsequent investigation.

My current running tally of hen harriers that have either been illegally killed or have ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances, most of them on or close to grouse moors, since 2018 stands at 130 birds and this list doesn’t include any of the four Natural England-tagged hen harriers listed above because their causes of death have not yet been revealed.


‘Why are birds of prey still being killed in Scotland despite new legislation?’ – special report in The National

The National newspaper published a special report on Monday 16 December 2024 entitled, ‘Why are birds of prey still being killed in Scotland despite new legislation?’, with a particular focus on the Cairngorms National Park.

It’s reproduced below.

SCOTLAND passed the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill earlier this year, introducing a licensing scheme for the grouse shooting industry in a bid to end the illegal killing of birds of prey.

The first licenses were issued this past summer, and while considered a blueprint for tougher legislation across the UK – people are still killing birds of prey on grouse moors, which is not an easy thing to do.

Guilty parties must have access to a vehicle, equipment such as a firearm, opportunity and motive.

“This isn’t people traveling from towns and cities going up onto our hills and randomly killing birds of prey. These are targeted offences,” Ian Thomson, investigations manager for the RSPB, told The National.

But why? And who would do this?

Why are grouse moor shootings still taking place?

A Hen Harrier disappeared in February. A buzzard was shot in Perthshire in mid-May. An osprey was shot in the Glen Doll area in August. A dead golden eagle was found in a plastic bag near Loch Rusky in November.

In the last 15 years, more than 1500 birds of prey have been killed, with 57 convictions. However, the majority of these sentences are suspended, and only one person has been jailed.

Most of the evidence gathered by investigators is from satellite tags, fitted to allow conservationists to monitor the movements around the country.

The technology is estimated to be about 97% reliable, and “very rarely suffers some sort of technical function”, according to Thomson.

“Often we believe that there is strong evidence that supports the fact that these birds are being shot often at night, the tags destroyed, and the carcass is disposed of,” Thomson said.

The RSPB investigations team assists Police Scotland by speaking to local land managers and liaising with the community if a tag stops working. When asked why anyone would target the birds, even with the new legislation in place, Thomson said: “The killings are being undertaken by people who are working on the land.

“That’s the reality, and the vast majority of raptor persecution offenses occurring in Scotland are linked to management for kind of game bird shooting and particularly grouse shooting.

“There are many layers of evidence that support that.

“First of all, the location of the incidents that are found. Whether its birds shot, birds poisoned, or nests destroyed, these are all subject to police investigations.

“A significant proportion of people convicted for raptor persecution offenses have been gamekeepers,” Thomson shared.

RSPB data shows that at least 54% of all confirmed incidents in the last 10 years (2014-2023) have been linked to land managed for pheasant, partridge and grouse shooting.

The association of these crimes with the gamebird industry is also evidenced by criminal court records. Of all individuals convicted of bird of prey persecution related offences from 2009 to 2023, 75% were connected to the gamebird shooting industry and 68% were gamekeepers.

The Angus Glens crime hotspot

Angus Glens in the Cairngorms is a hotspot for the number of raptor persecution in Scotland, with the Highlands having 69 since 2009.

There have been multiple confirmed incidents occurring on several estates in the area. This includes many poisoning incidents using chemicals whose possession was long banned, repeated illegal misusing abuse of crow traps and pole traps, shootings and destruction of nests.

Earlier this year, NatureScot placed restrictions on an estate on the edge of the Cairngorms National Park for three years following evidence of bird poisoning on the property.

Thomson said there had been 10 suspicious disappearances of satellite tags on birds of prey in the Angus Glen in the last 15 years.

There has been a peregrine, and an osprey shot since the start of the shooting season in Angus Glens this year, which Thomson described as “worrying”.

The law as it has stood since 2012 has been serious liability, which means landowners are responsible for the actions of their employees and the land.

So are landowners aware of the circumstances surrounding raptor persecutions on their land?

A wall of silence

The first licenses under the new bill were approved this past July, but Thomson noted there would have been no need for it had the industry “taken possession of this problem decades ago”.

He added: “I think had the industry rooted out criminals, then we wouldn’t have needed this sort of legislation moved on.

“We are in a situation where some Victorian management practices towards birds of prey persist. It really is time that the shooting industry got into the 21st century.”

Thomson said it was rare for estates to report raptor persecutions.

When asked whether estates may be protecting or turning a blind eye to those who target birds of prey, Thomson said he could not confirm but he and his team frequently hear of peer pressure within estates to keep reporting low, adding that crimes are rarely reported by the industry.

“The problem is the game keeping industry is used to operating a bit like a closed shop,” Thomson said.

“It’s very difficult. There is no whistleblowing culture, and it would be fantastic if organizations representing gamekeepers set up a scheme where people could report incidents taking place and those are passed on to the police.

“But that just never seems to happen. Exceedingly rare truths are told.”

Thomson revealed that gamekeepers come to the team sharing their worries and are “terrified” to come forward.

“They say to us this information can’t come from me because I may lose my job and I may lose my friends and I may lose my hobby. People are under considerable pressure to keep their mouths shut,” he said.

“Either people won’t see anything or there is just a culture of denial.”

Thomson described “efforts to deny or downplay” incidents, and said that when satellite tags start to disappear, people blame “imaginary wind farms” or factors, dismissing science and evidence of crimes.

“It’s a mix of cultural misinformation, a wall of silence and complete denial”, Thomson added.

ENDS

For those who are sick to the back teeth of birds of prey being illegally killed on grouse moors, you might want to sign this new petition from Wild Justice calling for a ban on driven grouse shooting – HERE.

Multiple birds of prey found dead in suspicious circumstances – police appeal for information & warn public of potential poisoning danger

Nottinghamshire Police have issued an appeal for information after the discovery of ‘several dead birds of prey that were seen in suspicious and unnatural circumstances‘ near to the village of Bunny, in the Rushcliffe borough of south Nottinghamshire on Tuesday 10th December 2024.

They said: “We are appealing for the public’s help if you have seen any suspicious animal carcasses while out walking please report them to police and do not allow dogs or other animals to touch them as they may be poisoned.

If you have any information which might assist enquiries it can be reported online or via 101 quoting occurrence number 24000745675“.

They haven’t provided any further detail such as the species involved although their social media post was illustrated with an image of a buzzard.

Buzzard photo by Ruth Tingay

This is an excellent response from Nottinghamshire Police, not only to gather information during the early phase of an investigation but especially to warn the public of the risk of potential poisons being used that could be a danger to people and their pets.

Hopefully Nottinghamshire Police will provide an update once post mortems and toxicology tests have been undertaken.

Peregrine found poisoned – Police appeal for information six months later

Press release from PSNI (Police Service for Northern Ireland), 13 December 2024

POLICE CONFIRM BIRD POISONING IN ARMAGH

Police have confirmed that an adult bird of prey was found dead in the Forkhill area of Armagh in June of this year was poisoned.

It was reported on the 12th June that a Peregrine Falcon was found dead in the Forkhill area. The bird was retrieved by our search and rescue team and underwent testing to ascertain the exact circumstances, with enquiries ongoing the last number of months.

Peregrine photo by Pete Walkden

Constable Millen said: “We can now confirm the Peregrine Falcon found was poisoned with Carbofuran which is very concerning. This is not only a dangerous substance but it has been banned since 2001.

“We would remind the public if there is a suspicion of a crime, such as poisoning on any bird of prey in their local area, to leave the bird(s) and/or bait in situ and to call the police as soon as possible for officers to action.

“We have been working closely with our partners in Northern Ireland Environment Agency and National Wildlife Crime Unit and Northern Ireland Raptor Study Group regarding the matter and will continue to do so, in the hope to find those responsible.

“Police would appeal to anyone who has information on any suspected bird poisoning to please make contact via our non-emergency number 101, or online at http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/ or you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at http://crimestoppers-uk.org/.   

ENDS

As far as I’m aware, nobody has ever been prosecuted for the illegal poisoning of any wildlife in Northern Ireland, which might explain why poisoning offences, especially against birds of prey, continue.

The Police waiting for six months before issuing an appeal for information about a poisoning crime won’t help, either.

Following the illegal poisoning of two white-tailed eagles in May 2023, found dead together on Northern Ireland’s only driven grouse moor at Glenwherry in the Antrim Hills (here), the Northern Ireland Raptor Study Group launched a petition calling for a ban on the possession of dangerous pesticides (here).

This petition is still live and has attracted almost 46,000 signatures. If you’d like to support it, please click here (you don’t have to be a resident/citizen of NI to sign – it’s open to anyone).

To learn more about recent raptor persecution incidents in Northern Ireland, this excellent report is well worth a read. It covers incidents reported in 2021 and 2022 (published May 2024).

PAW NI Raptor Persecution Report 2021_2022 (published May 2024)Download

Raven found shot dead next to grouse moor in notorious Peak District raptor persecution hotspot

South Yorkshire Police have issued the following press release (dated 9 December 2024):

WITNESS APPEAL AFTER BIRD SHOT IN PEAK DISTRICT

We are appealing for information after a protected bird was reportedly shot in Bradfield, near Sheffield.

On 25 August, a dead raven was found in a field near Agden Side Road, Bradfield, in the Peak District.

The incident was reported to the RSPB who collected the bird. An x-ray of the bird showed that it had been shot.

It is believed the bird was shot between 24 August and 25 August.

Since the incident, officers have been following several lines of enquiry and we are now appealing for anybody who may have any information about the incident to contact us.

You can report information to us online via live chat or by calling 101, quoting incident number 662 of 9 September 2024.

You can access our online portal here: www.southyorkshire.police.uk/ro/report/ocr/af/how-to-report-a-crime/. Alternatively, you can provide information anonymously via independent charity Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555 111 or online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org.

ENDS

The Agden Side Road lies just beyond the boundary of two grouse moors (Strines and Broomhead) in the Peak District National Park.

This part of the Peak District National Park, dominated by land managed for driven grouse shooting, has a long and sordid history of raptor persecution incidents (e.g. see here, here, here, here, here etc).

Prosecutions are rare, largely due to the difficulty of identifying a named individual to link to a crime that has taken place in a relatively remote landscape with few witnesses.

This is certainly not helped by South Yorkshire Police, who rarely cover themselves in glory with timely investigations, although to be fair unless the shooting of this raven was witnessed and recorded, the police have little to go on.

Yes, the usual suspects will be in the frame but for a prosecution the police need evidence – they can’t just prosecute on the basis of recurrent past criminal behaviour in the area. Although waiting three and a half months to issue an appeal for witnesses, as they’ve done in this case, won’t help.

This scenario happens over and over again in areas managed for driven grouse shooting, even inside our National Parks, and has been happening for decades. Raptors are routinely shot, trapped and poisoned and the criminals get away with their crimes time after time after time.

This is one (of several) reasons why Wild Justice is currently running a petition calling for a ban on driven grouse shooting. The petition currently stands at 30,000 signatures but it needs 100,000 to trigger a parliamentary debate. If you’d like to sign it, please click HERE.

UPDATE 9 June 2025: Another Raven found shot dead next to grouse moor in notorious persecution hotspot in Peak District National Park (here)

Grouse shooting industry under pressure in Scotland

The Financial Times ran a story yesterday discussing how the grouse shooting industry in Scotland is under pressure and feels ‘encircled’.

It features quotes from the gamekeeper and estate manager on Lochan Estate in Strathbraan – which is currently serving a three-year General Licence restriction after the discovery of a dead hen harrier found in an illegally-set trap (see here). The gamekeeper, Colin McGregor, blames wind farms for the high number of satellite-tagged golden eagles that routinely ‘disappear’ in suspicious circumstances or are found poisoned, trapped & shot on grouse moors.

There are also quotes from Ross McEwing of Scottish Land & Estates, who argues that the recent rise in offences against birds of prey relates to the illegal laundering of peregrines rather than moorland management.

Really, Ross? That’s disingenuous posturing if ever I saw it. The peregrine laundering offences took place in spring 2021. Since then, there has been the shooting of a golden eagle (here), the suspicious disappearance of a satellite-tagged hen harrier (here), the shooting of a buzzard (here),the poisoning of a red kite (here), the shooting of a peregrine (here), the shooting of an osprey (here), the suspicious disappearance of a satellite-tagged golden eagle (here), the discovery of a mutilated golden eagle in a carrier bag (here), the suspicious disappearance of another satellite-tagged hen harrier (here), a pole-trapped peregrine (here), the discovery of poisoned baits (here), the shooting of a sparrowhawk (here), the shooting of a red kite (here), the poisoning of another red kite (here), a shotgun attack on a goshawk nest (here), the shooting of another red kite (here), the shooting of ravens and the stamping on one of them (here)…there are probably more incidents, these are just off the top of my head. A considerable number of these offences were linked to grouse moor management.

As I told the Financial Times journalist, “Pretending the extent of these crimes is negligible is the mark of an industry desperately trying to ‘greenwash’ its shameful reputation“.

The article, written by Simeon Kerr, is reproduced below:

Scotland’s ‘sport of kings’ hit by extreme weather and land reform

Plumes of smoke roll along the brown patchwork of upland moors on Lochan Estate as its gamekeepers burn heather to regenerate leaves for the red grouse. The hut, where guests break from shooting for lunch, stands eerily empty.

Clients, who come from as far as the US and pay £216 per brace, or pair of birds, bagged a record 5,400 grouse over 22 days at the estate in Perthshire, central Scotland in 2017. This year, a late cold snap and fewer insects cut the population, meaning no shooting.

“We could tell in the summer that there weren’t enough brooding pairs; you could see grouse that had lost their young,” said Colin McGregor, who has worked as the estate’s gamekeeper for 37 years. “This business is up and down.”

With just four days left of the season, the same story has echoed around nearby estates and beyond as low stock combines with growing calls for land reform and resistance to shooting to put pressure on the traditional “sport of kings”.

Since the “glorious 12th” that kicked off the season as usual in August, Scottish estates had held about 30 days of driven grouse shooting, said Ross Ewing, moorland director at business group Scottish Land & Estates — a “pitiful” amount compared with the 2,000-3,000 during a good year across the 100-plus estates that host driven shoots.

Extreme, unpredictable weather associated with climate change was creating challenges across the rural landscape, including hitting the breeding success of ground-nesting birds, he said.

Stretching across 10,000 acres of high ground, Lochan’s sporting interests are underpinned by other revenue streams including a wind farm and agriculture.

But McGregor said the lack of business was putting the livelihoods of three families at risk, affecting dozens of casual staff employed as loaders, pickers-up and caterers, and dampening demand for local hotels.

The shooting industry says its activity sustains rural life, but mounting opposition to blood sport and demands to reform national land ownership have left it feeling encircled.

Research published by the British Association of Shooting and Conservation in July showed shooting in Scotland added 14,100 jobs and £760mn to the economy, which is estimated at £218bn including oil and gas.

But Revive, which campaigns for grouse moor reform, cited a Scottish Land & Estates report that found country sports provided little more than 1,000 direct jobs, despite estates taking up 57 per cent of rural Scotland.

“A transition away from grouse shooting is urgently needed — the sooner the better for our people, wildlife and environment, said Max Wiszniewski, Revive campaign director. He called for community-led ownership driven by nature-based industries such as peatland restoration, wildlife tourism and forestry.

The polarised debate around land use in Scotland, where fewer than 500 people own half of private land, is no more vigorous than around the vast tracts of grouse moorland.

Bordering Lochan Estate are large plots owned by Guy Hands, the private equity investor who is developing sustainable forestry, and Oxford university’s endowment fund, where the moorland is left to grow wild.

The arrival of “natural capital” investors pursuing rewilding projects for philanthropy or forestry and peatland restoration to sell carbon credits has lifted land valuations, making grouse shooting increasingly uneconomic.

As McGregor oversaw the burning of heather, known as muirburn, a golden eagle circled high above the ashen moor. The fate of raptors is another subject dividing Scots, with many pushing for tighter regulation to protect birds of prey from illegal killing.

Research by the Scottish government in 2017 found that one-third of satellite-tagged golden eagles had died in suspicious circumstances around grouse moors.

McGregor said the prevalence of birds of prey countered such concerns, blaming wind farms for deaths. Pointing to historically low levels of wildlife crime, Ewing said the recent rise in raptor offences related to illegal laundering of peregrine falcons, rather than moorland management.

Criticism “suits a narrative — many are opposed to hunting and, particularly, driven game bird shooting”, he added.

But Ruth Tingay, a conservation campaigner, said reported crimes were the “tip of the iceberg”, citing continuous reports of shot, trapped and poisoned raptors as well as the rarity of wind turbine strikes.

“Pretending the extent of these crimes is negligible is the mark of an industry desperately trying to ‘greenwash’ its shameful reputation,” she said. “There are huge gaps in the distribution of breeding species like golden eagles and hen harriers in areas intensively managed for driven grouse shooting.”

In early 2022, Lochan was hit by a three-year loss of its general license to control wild birds after allegations of wildlife crime. McGregor, who denies any wrongdoing, called for a neutral ombudsman to hear appeals against sanctions relating to the growing number of regulations.

“There should also be some recognition of the good we do for curlews and lapwings — all critically endangered. Grouse moors are one of the few places they are thriving,” he said.

The Scottish National party government has been legislating for land reform and tighter regulation of estate management as it balances tradition with advocacy for nature and climate policy.

It is implementing muirburn licensing, in recognition of how burning heather cuts wildfire risk by managing the fuel load on moorland while seeking to protect peatlands crucial for carbon storage.

A separate government licensing scheme this year threatened the removal of shooting rights if raptor persecution occurred anywhere on an estate’s boundaries, but was watered down within months.

Tingay said it was a “middle ground step” that, if found not fit for purpose, would fuel demand for an outright ban.

Back on the Lochan estate, in the absence of shooting parties, the team engaged in the daily tasks of maintaining infrastructure and managing the moor.

Richard Stewart, estate manager, was philosophical about the poor season.

“You just have to suck it up and keep going in the hope you can hit a good year to reimburse the investment,” he said.

ENDS

Wild Justice’s latest petition calling for a ban on driven grouse shooting currently has 28,000 signatures. It needs 100,000 to trigger a parliamentary debate in Westminster. If you’d like to sign it, please click HERE.

Satellite-tagged golden eagle ‘disappears’ in suspicious circumstances on grouse moor in the notorious Angus Glens

Press release from RSPB:

EAGLE VANISHES IN BIRD OF PREY CRIME HOTSPOT

  • The young Golden Eagle, fitted with a satellite-tag, was being monitored by researchers in Scotland until it suddenly disappeared in the Angus Glens – an area dominated by grouse moors and with a history of raptor persecution.
  • Scotland’s national bird, Golden Eagles are still heavily – and criminally – persecuted.

The sudden disappearance of a satellite-tagged Golden Eagle has sparked concerns of criminal activity in the Angus Glens. 

The young bird, which hatched in Tayside in 2022, was fitted with a satellite tag while in its nest. This work was supported by Forestry and Land Scotland for research purposes.

The tag was transmitting as expected until May 2024 when it suddenly went offline. Its last known location was an area of moorland in the Angus Glens – an area with a long history of illegal bird of prey persecution. 

The data from the bird’s tag was swiftly provided to the police for independent scrutiny. Police Scotland, the National Wildlife Crime Unit and RSPB Scotland then conducted a search of the area but found no trace of the bird or its tag. 

Golden eagle photo by Pete Walkden

It is a crime to kill a bird of prey, and anyone caught doing so faces a fine or even jail. Furthermore, legislation introduced in March 2024 means that, if illegal activity takes place on a grouse moor, that grouse moor could lose its license to operate. 

Will Hayward, RSPB Scotland Senior Investigations Officer, said: “The sudden cessation of transmissions from this tag strongly suggests human interference, and reflects a pattern of tagged birds ‘disappearing’ almost exclusively on or near grouse moors that has become all too evident in recent years. Had this bird died of natural causes or if the tag had become detached, we would be able to locate and retrieve it. Given the well-proven reliability of this technology, when no body or tag is found, this is highly suspicious. We believe this bird has been killed and the tag destroyed.”

Unfortunately, this young bird is the latest of many to disappear without explanation on or near a grouse moor. 

Angus was one of the raptor crime hotspots identified in a Government-commissioned report on the fates of satellite tracked golden eagles in Scotland, published in 2017. Sadly there has been no let-up in confirmed incidents and suspicious disappearances since then. Most recently, an Osprey was found shot in the Glen Doll area on 12 August – the opening day of the grouse shooting season. [Ed: And a Peregrine was found shot in the Angus Glens on 3 September 2024, here]. And earlier this year sat-tagged Hen Harrier ‘Shalimar’ disappeared in circumstances similar to this Golden Eagle. 

If you notice a dead or injured bird of prey in suspicious circumstances, call Police Scotland on 101 and fill in the RSPB’s online reporting form here.

If you have information about anyone killing birds of prey which you wish to report anonymously, call the RSPB’s confidential Raptor Crime Hotline on 0300 999 0101.

ENDS

Buzzard found shot next to grouse moor in Strathbraan, Perthshire

Press release from REVIVE, the coalition for grouse moor reform:

SHOT BUZZARD SUFFERED ‘SIGNIFICANT UNNECCESARY SUFFERING’

Six months on from the introduction of new legislation intended to tackle raptor persecution, wildlife campaigners have expressed concern about the continued shooting of protected birds of prey near Scotland’s grouse moors.

The League Against Cruel Sports and Raptor Persecution UK have both commented on the shooting of a protected buzzard found near to the boundary of land belonging to Glenturret Estate in Perthshire in mid-May, just a few weeks after the Wildlife Management and Muirburn Act 2024 received Royal assent.

The comments came after police notified the League Against Cruel Sports that they had concluded investigations into the shooting of the buzzard with no charges being brought.

The dead bird was found on its back with its wings spread out by a Field Officer of the League Against Cruel Sports, who was carrying out field research on grouse moor management in the area.

A post-mortem conducted by the SRCU revealed that the buzzard had been injured by a ‘shot gun wound that caused fracture of the lower leg bone’, concluding that ‘the bird died slowly as a result of the leg wound and secondary infection, experiencing significant unnecessary suffering.’

Robbie Marsland Director of Scotland and Northern Ireland for League Against Cruel Sports said:

“Why would anyone shoot at a buzzard – unless it was someone who was trying to make sure there would be more grouse to shoot for so-called sport?

“The new laws were supposed to stop this kind of wanton cruelty but this case just goes to show that the killing goes on. Our worry is that this cruelty will continue as long as buzzards, hen harriers and golden eagles are seen as a threat to the shooting industry, rather than the magnificent creatures that they are.”

Dr Ruth Tingay of Raptor Persecution UK added:

“It was the persistent illegal killing of golden eagles and other raptors that led the Scottish Parliament to introduce a grouse moor licensing scheme earlier this year, a ground-breaking piece of legislation designed to impose sanctions on those who continue to kill our special birds of prey.

“The news that yet another raptor has been shot and killed is appalling. This case, along with other ongoing police investigations such as the recent shooting of an osprey and a peregrine, as well as the poisoning of a red kite and the discovery of a dismembered golden eagle found dumped inside a plastic bag, will test the effectiveness of the new legislation.

“If the killings continue, it’s likely there will be a push to ban gamebird shooting outright. If businesses can’t operate without killing protected species then they shouldn’t be in business.”

The Wildlife Management and Muirburn Act introduced a range of measures including a new licensing framework for grouse moors, banning the practice of snaring and giving greater powers to Scottish SPCA inspectors to tackle wildlife crime.

In a background briefing note about the new legislation, the Scottish Government stated, ‘The Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill was introduced primarily to address raptor persecution and ensure that the management of grouse moors and related activities are undertaken in an environmentally sustainable and welfare conscious manner.’

The need for land reform to help tackle wildlife crime will be one of the discussion points at the REVIVE Conference in Perth on Sunday 10 November. REVIVE is a coalition of the League Against Cruel Sports, Common Weal, OneKind, Friends of the Earth Scotland and Raptor Persecution UK, and both Robbie Marsland and Dr Ruth Tingay will speak at the event.

The conference will launch the Big Land Question campaign, a year-long programme of independent research with the aim of enhancing and informing policy development and to ascertain public perceptions around land reform.

ENDS

This news was published by the Daily Record this morning (here).

Strathbraan is a large area dominated by grouse moors and is a notorious raptor persecution hotspot.