In April this year, James ‘Jimmy’ Kempster, 39, was found guilty of being in possession at some point of a Kestrel and a Barn Owl that had been found impaled on the door handle of a community shop in Broughton, Hampshire, in March 2024. DNA found on the birds was linked to Kempster.
He was found not guilty of criminal damage in relation to the dumping of 50 dead Hares that were strewn around the shop’s courtyard, with blood smeared on the shop windows, as the prosecution could not show beyond reasonable doubt that Kempster was present at the crime scene.
Sentencing was deferred until 23 June 2026 to allow for background reports to be prepared.
Screen grab from the CCTV footage outside Broughton Community Shop on 15 March 2024, showing one of three unidentified individuals throwing dead Hares from a vehicle onto the shop forecourt. (Image via Crown Prosecution Service)
Kemspter, who has a string of at least 13 prior convictions, was given a 15-month community order including 30 days of rehabilitation activity and made subject to being monitored by an electronic tag for six months.
He was also fined £120 and ordered to pay costs of £650 with a £114 court surcharge.
Press release from Hampshire Constabulary (23 June 2026):
MAN SENTENCED FOR WILDLIFE OFFENCES IN BROUGHTON
A man has been sentenced for wildlife offences relating to handling the carcasses of two protected species of bird.
On 15 March 2024, police received multiple reports that a large pile of approximately 50 dead hares had been strewn across the floor outside Broughton Community Shop, and the bodies of a dead barn owl and kestrel were stuffed on to the shop’s door handle.
Local villagers turned up to help clean up the mess prior to police arriving.
Following a number of enquiries, 39-year-old James ‘Jimmy’ Kempster was arrested and subsequently charged with offences, after forensic testing of the carcasses showed that his DNA was present on the owl and the kestrel.
He denied any involvement, and the case went to trial at Southampton Magistrates Court on Tuesday 21 April 2026.
During the trial, the court heard how CCTV showed a Suzuki Grand Vitara turn up at the shop in the early hours of the morning on 15 March 2024. Two men exited the vehicle and began throwing the animal carcasses on the floor, and one of the men attached the dead birds to the shop’s door handle.
The following day, officers were out on patrol in rural Test Valley when they discovered a car similar to that captured on the CCTV burnt out approximately three and a half miles from Broughton.
Magistrates determined that, whilst the evidence was insufficient to place Kempster at the scene when the bodies were dumped, they accepted he had handled the dead birds at some point. Kempster was found guilty of possession of a dead schedule 1 wild bird, and possession of a dead non schedule 1 wild bird under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
A second man, aged 29 years, was interviewed under caution by police as part of this investigation, but he was later released with no further action being taken.
Kempster, of Marchwood Road in Eling, appeared at Southampton Magistrates Court on Tuesday 23 June where he was sentenced to a community order, rehabilitation activity, and ordered to pay £884 in costs.
ENDS
There’s a bit more detail provided in this article on the BBC News website.
Press release from Police Scotland (26 June 2026), followed by my commentary:
POLICE APPEAL AFTER SQUEAGLE THE GOLDEN EAGLE FOUND WITH SHOTGUN INJURIES
Police Scotland is appealing for information after a golden eagle was found to have been shot.
Squeagle, a four-year-old female golden eagle, was moved from the Outer Hebrides to the Lammermuir Hills in the Scottish Borders in February 2026 as part of a translocation project run by Restoring Upland Nature (RUN). She is fitted with a satellite tag which allows her movements to be monitored.
Low resolution map showing Squeagle’s satellite tracking data from Feb – May 2026. Image from Restoring Upland Nature (RUN)
After her release, Squeagle travelled through parts of northern England, including Northumberland, the Pennines and the Yorkshire Dales. A photograph taken in Northumberland on Monday, 4 May, 2026, showed significant damage to her wing feathers.
Squeagle photographed in Northumberland on 4 May 2026 with extensive feather damage (photo via RUN)
On Monday, 1 June, 2026, gamekeepers on an estate in the Lammermuirs became concerned after noticing the bird behaving unusually and contacted RUN. Squeagle was collected and taken to the Scottish SPCA’s National Wildlife Rescue Centre at Fishcross for assessment.
Scans and treatment revealed she had been shot and had at least 17 shotgun pellets lodged in her body and wings. Experts believe the injuries were not recent, as the wounds had already healed.
Detective Sergeant David Lynn, National Wildlife Crime Coordinator said:
“This was a serious attack on a protected bird of prey which I utterly condemn. Thanks to the quick actions of those who reported concerns, the golden eagle was able to receive specialist treatment and has since been returned to the wild. We are working with partners across Scotland and northern England to establish where and when she was shot.
“Following treatment by veterinary specialists at the Scottish SPCA, Squeagle was released back into the wild on Saturday, 6 June, 2026. Her condition will continue to be monitored through observations and detailed analysis of satellite tracking.
“Enquiries remain ongoing, and we are working alongside our colleagues in Northumberland, Durham, Cumbria and North Yorkshire, supported by the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit to establish who was responsible“.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Police Scotland, quoting incident number 1361 of 5 June 2026.
ENDS
Squeagle being released in south Scotland February 2026 after translocation from the Western Isles (photo by John Wright)
My commentary:
First of all, plaudits to all those involved with the recovery of this injured eagle and her subsequent release back to the wild – the gamekeepers who found her and chose to raise the alarm instead of their guns, RUN staff for a quick response and rescue, and the SSPCA staff who provided urgent and expert veterinary care and rehabilitation.
Plaudits also to Police Scotland for a fairly fast and detailed press release.
What struck me most about this latest persecution incident is that this Golden Eagle had survived for four-years in the relatively persecution-free Uists, but within three months of being translocated and released in south Scotland, and venturing into northern England, someone had shot her, presumably with the intention of killing her.
This happened just a few short months after another young translocated Golden Eagle, ‘Hamlet’, was found with shotgun injuries on a grouse moor in the Scottish Borders in January this year (see here).
These crimes, along with the shooting of Golden Eagle Merrick in the Moorfoot Hills in 2023 (here), the suspicious disappearances of Golden Eagles Tarras and Wren in the Langholm area in 2025 (here), the suspicious disappearance of a White-tailed Eagle in the Moorfoot Hills in 2025 (here), and the suspicious disappearance of White-tailed Eagle G834 in the North York Moors National Park in 2026 (here) are a stark reminder of the difficulties faced by those trying to re-establish eagle populations in the region, against a residual Victorian culture of zero tolerance for raptors on large areas of land that is managed for gamebird shooting.
The police and others are undertaking a detailed analysis of Squeagle’s satellite tracking data to try and pinpoint the location where she was shot, which looks likely to have been somewhere in northern England. I don’t doubt that they’ll be able to find it, given the quality and accuracy of the tag data available to them, but even if they can determine the location, it won’t result in a prosecution / conviction, or indeed any sanction, because unlike in Scotland, General Licence restrictions and/or grouse shoot licence revocations are not available in England.
So for those who continue to target these eagles, and other raptors, especially Hen Harriers, the risk of getting caught is almost negligible so in their minds it’s still worth committing the offence.
The RSPB and some others will argue that gamebird licensing is the way ahead, so that licences can be revoked where offences have been detected, providing at least some sort of sanction against those who continue to think the law doesn’t apply to them. There’s some merit in that argument, although personally I see licensing as only a step in the right direction and we’re still to see any licence revocations in Scotland, despite multiple raptor persecution offences taking place since licensing was introduced two years ago.
I’d like to see the Westminster Government put up funding to establish a national, multi-agency response unit to investigate raptor persecution crimes, and all other crimes that are listed as National Wildlife Crime priorities. It’s all very well putting up £1 million to explore the re-establishment of Golden Eagles in northern England (see here), but without also investing in wildlife crime enforcement capabilities, many eagles that are translocated are simply going to be shot, or trapped, or poisoned, or bludgeoned to death, with zero consequences for the offenders, just as they have been for the last 70+ years.
For anyone who still wants to pretend that the grouse shooting industry isn’t responsible for the systematic extermination of Hen Harriers on grouse moors across the UK, here’s the latest catalogue of crime that suggests otherwise.
This male hen harrier died in 2019 after his leg was almost severed in an illegally set trap that had been placed next to his nest on a Scottish grouse moor (see here). Photo by Ruth Tingay
This is the blog I now publish after every reported killing or suspicious disappearance.
“They disappear in the same way political dissidents in authoritarian dictatorships have disappeared” (Stephen Barlow, 22 January 2021).
Today the list has been revised to reflect updates revealed in this morning’s blog (here) about two more ‘disappearing’ Hen Harriers on Ruabon Moor in North Wales whose satellite tags were found and assessments concluded they’d been ‘deliberately cut off’.
There isn’t a one-stop shop (apart from this list) where you can find information about ‘missing’ or illegally killed Hen Harriers – the information for this list is sourced and cross-referenced from various places, including Natural England’s database, the RSPB’s database, the HSE’s database, police reports, RSPB Birdcrime reports and FoIs to various agencies. This list doesn’t include any Hen Harriers that have been listed as having a natural cause of death (e.g. known/suspected predation), or listed as ‘likely tag failure’, or known to have been lost abroad, or where the cause of death is inconclusive, unless there is additional information (e.g. from satellite tag data) which indicates suspicious or illegal activity. It is painstaking work that takes a lot of time to complete, but I consider it to be as accurate and comprehensive as it can be at the time of writing.
I’ve been compiling this list only since 2018 because that is the year that the grouse shooting industry ‘leaders’ would have us believe that the criminal persecution of Hen Harriers had stopped and that these birds were being welcomed back on to the UK’s grouse moors (see here).
This assertion was made shortly before the publication of a devastating new scientific paper that demonstrated that 72% of satellite-tagged Hen Harriers were confirmed or considered likely to have been illegally killed, and this was ten times more likely to occur over areas of land managed for grouse shooting relative to other land uses (see here). A further scientific paper published in 2023 by scientists at the RSPB, utilising even more recent data, echoed these results – see here.
2018 was also the year that Natural England issued a licence to begin a Hen Harrier brood meddling trial on grouse moors in northern England. For new blog readers, Hen Harrier brood meddling was a conservation sham sanctioned by DEFRA as part of its ludicrous ‘Hen Harrier Action Plan‘ and carried out by Natural England (NE), in cahoots with the very industry responsible for the species’ catastrophic decline in England.
For more background see here and for a critical evaluation of the trial after 5 years see this report by Wild Justice. In 2024 the brood meddling trial appeared to collapse for reasons which are not yet clear (see here) and the licence for the so-called ‘scientific trial’ expired. In March 2025 Natural England announced the end of the brood meddling trial (here) and in April 2025 announced that a licence application to continue brood meddling, submitted by the Moorland Association, had been refused (here).
Brood meddling was earlier described as a sort of ‘gentleman’s agreement’ by commentator Stephen Welch:
“I don’t get it, I thought the idea of that scheme was some kind of trade off – a gentleman’s agreement that the birds would be left in peace if they were moved from grouse moors at a certain density. It seems that one party is not keeping their side of the bargain“.
With at least 149 Hen Harriers gone since 2018, and 28 of those being brood meddled birds, there is no question that the grouse shooting industry was simply taking the piss. Meanwhile, Natural England pretended that ‘partnership working’ was the way to go and consecutive Tory DEFRA Ministers remained silent for all those years.
*n/a – no Hen Harriers were brood meddled in 2018.
‘Partnership working’ according to Natural England appeared to include authorising the removal of Hen Harrier chicks from a grouse moor already under investigation by the police for suspected raptor persecution (here) and accepting a £75k ‘donation’ from representatives of the grouse shooting industry with a contract clause that prevented Natural England from criticising them or the sham brood meddling trial (see here). This was in addition to a further £10k ‘donation’ that Natural England accepted, under the same terms, in 2021 (here).
Thankfully, the Scottish Government finally decided to act by introducing a grouse moor licensing scheme under the Wildlife Management & Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024. The intention behind this new legislation is that grouse shooting estates could have their licences suspended/revoked if, on the balance of probability, it is shown that any raptor persecution crimes (& some other associated offences) are linked with grouse moor management on that estate. There were, however, ongoing issues with the licence as it was significantly watered-down after an intervention from the grouse shooting industry (see here). The loophole was eventually closed off via an amendment in the Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2026 (see here).
In England a new Hen Harrier Taskforce was established in 2024, led by the National Wildlife Crime Unit, to use innovative techniques to target Hen Harrier persecution hotspots (locations where Hen Harriers repeatedly ‘disappear’ or are found illegally killed). It’s too early to judge the Taskforce’s success/failure and it’s been met with considerable resistance from the Moorland Association, the grouse moor owners’ lobby group (e.g. see here). So far though, it’s quite clear that the the illegal killing continues.
So here’s the latest gruesome list of ‘missing’/illegally killed Hen Harriers since 2018. Note that the majority of these birds (but not all) were fitted with satellite tags. How many more [untagged] harriers have been killed? We now have evidence that gamekeepers are specifically targeting untagged Hen Harriers, precisely to avoid detection (see here for extraordinary footage/audio captured by the RSPB’s Investigations Team as featured on Channel 4 News in October 2024).
2018
February 2018: Hen Harrier Saorsa ‘disappeared’ in the Angus Glens in Scotland (here). The Scottish Gamekeepers Association later published wholly inaccurate information claiming the bird had been re-sighted. The RSPB dismissed this as “completely false” (here). Tagged by RSPB.
5 February 2018: Hen Harrier Marc ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Durham (here). Tagged by RSPB.
9 February 2018: Hen Harrier Aalin ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Wales (here). Tagged by RSPB.
March 2018: Hen Harrier Blue ‘disappeared’ in the Lake District National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
March 2018: Hen Harrier Finn ‘disappeared’ near Moffat in Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
18 April 2018: Hen Harrier Lia ‘disappeared’ in Wales and her corpse was retrieved in a field in May 2018. Cause of death was unconfirmed but police treating death as suspicious (here). Tagged by RSPB.
8 August 2018: Hen Harrier Hilma ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Northumberland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
16 August 2018: Hen Harrier Athena ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
26 August 2018: Hen Harrier Octavia ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Peak District National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
29 August 2018: Hen Harrier Margot ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
29 August 2018: Hen Harrier Heulwen ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Wales (here). Tagged by RSPB.
3 September 2018: Hen Harrier Stelmaria ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
24 September 2018: Hen Harrier Heather ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
2 October 2018: Hen Harrier Mabel (Tag ID 34342) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref NY851059. Tagged by NE.
3 October 2018: Hen Harrier Thor ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in Bowland, Lanacashire (here). Tagged by RSPB.
23 October 2018: Hen Harrier Tom (Tag ID 161144) ‘disappeared’ in South Wales (here). Grid ref SS906698. Tagged by NE.
26 October 2018: Hen Harrier Arthur ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the North York Moors National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
1 November 2018: Hen Harrier Barney (Tag ID 34343) ‘disappeared’ on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall (here). Grid ref SX140720. Tagged by NE.
10 November 2018: Hen Harrier Rannoch ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here). Her corpse was found nearby in May 2019 – she’d been killed in an illegally-set spring trap (here). Tagged by RSPB.
14 November 2018: Hen Harrier River ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Nidderdale AONB (here). Her corpse was found nearby in April 2019 – she’d been illegally shot (here). Tagged by RSPB.
2019
16 January 2019: Hen Harrier Vulcan ‘disappeared’ in Wiltshire close to Natural England’s proposed reintroduction site (here). Tagged by RSPB.
28 January 2019: Hen Harrier DeeCee ‘disappeared’ in Glen Esk, a grouse moor area of the Angus Glens (see here). Tagged by RSPB.
7 February 2019: Hen Harrier Skylar ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in South Lanarkshire (here). Tagged by RSPB.
22 April 2019: Hen Harrier Marci ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
26 April 2019: Hen Harrier Rain ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Nairnshire (here). Tagged by RSPB.
11 May 2019: An untagged male Hen Harrier was caught in an illegally-set trap next to his nest on a grouse moor in South Lanarkshire. He didn’t survive (here).
7 June 2019: An untagged Hen Harrier was found dead on a grouse moor in Scotland. A post mortem stated the bird had died as a result of ‘penetrating trauma’ injuries and that this bird had previously been shot (here).
5 September 2019: Wildland Hen Harrier 1 ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor nr Dalnaspidal on the edge of the Cairngorms National Park (here). Tagged by Wildlands.
11 September 2019: Hen Harrier Romario ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
14 September 2019: Hen Harrier R1-M2-19 (Brood meddled in 2019, Tag ID 183704) ‘disappeared’ in the North Pennines (here). Grid ref SD920943. Tagged by NE.
23 September 2019: Hen Harrier R1-M4-19 (Brood meddled in 2019, Tag ID 55149) ‘disappeared’ in North Pennines (here). Grid ref NY952103. Tagged by NE.
24 September 2019: Wildland Hen Harrier 2 ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor at Invercauld in the Cairngorms National Park (here). Tagged by Wildlands.
24 September 2019: Hen Harrier Bronwyn ‘disappeared’ near a grouse moor in North Wales (here). Tagged by RSPB.
10 October 2019: Hen Harrier Ada ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the North Pennines AONB (here). Tagged by RSPB.
12 October 2019: Hen Harrier Thistle ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Sutherland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
18 October 2019: Member of the public reports the witnessed shooting of an untagged male Hen Harrier on White Syke Hill in North Yorkshire (here).
November 2019: Hen Harrier Mary found illegally poisoned on a pheasant shoot in Ireland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
November 2019: Hen Harrier Artemis ‘disappeared’ near Long Formacus in south Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
14 December 2019: Hen harrier Oscar ‘disappeared’ in Eskdalemuir, south Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
December 2019: Hen Harrier Ingmar ‘disappeared’ in the Strathbraan grouse moor area of Perthshire (here). Tagged by RSPB.
Unknown date in 2019: Hen Harrier Erin tagged on Isle of Man ‘disappeared’ (Stop No Malfunction) – location unknown (see here). Tagged by RSPB.
2020
27 January 2020: Members of the public report the witnessed shooting of a male Hen Harrier on Threshfield Moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
5 April 2020: Hen Harrier Hoolie ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
8 April 2020: Hen Harrier Marlin ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
19 May 2020: Hen Harrier Fingal ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Lowther Hills, Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
21 May 2020: Hen Harrier R1-M1-19 (Brood meddled in 2019, Tag ID 183701) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Cumbria shortly after returning from wintering in France (here). Grid ref SD770877. Tagged by NE.
27 May 2020: Hen Harrier Silver ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor on Leadhills Estate, Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
2020: day/month unknown: Unnamed male Hen Harrier breeding on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve, Cumbria ‘disappeared’ while away hunting (here).
14 August 2020: Hen Harrier Solo (Tag ID 201119) ‘disappeared’ in confidential nest area in Lancashire (here). Tagged by NE.
7 September 2020: Hen Harrier Dryad ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
16 September 2020: Hen Harrier Fortune (Tag ID 162150a) ‘disappeared’ from a confidential roost site in Northumberland (here). Tagged by NE.
19 September 2020: Hen Harrier Harold (Tag ID 57272) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref NY830036. Tagged by NE.
20 September 2020: Hen Harrier R1-M4-20 (Brood meddled in 2020, Tag ID 55152) ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in North Yorkshire (here). Grid ref SE103956. Tagged by NE.
19 December 2020: Hen Harrier Lagertha (Tag ID 201126a) ‘disappeared’ in Christchurch, Dorset close to winter roost. Not to be confused with RSPB-tagged bird also called Lagertha (2023). Grid ref SZ161924. Tagged by NE.
2021
24 February 2021: Hen Harrier Tarras ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in Northumberland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
12th April 2021: Hen Harrier Yarrow ‘disappeared’ near Stockton, County Durham (here). Tagged by RSPB.
18 May 2021: Untagged breeding male Hen Harrier (Geltsdale 1) ‘disappeared’ from its breeding attempt on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve, Cumbria whilst away hunting (here).
18 May 2021: Another untagged breeding male Hen Harrier (Geltsdale 2) ‘disappeared’ from its breeding attempt on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve, Cumbria whilst away hunting (here).
24 July 2021: Hen Harrier Asta (Tag ID 201117) ‘disappeared’ in the North Pennines after establishing a home range around Gilmonby Moor (here). We learned 18 months later that her wings had been ripped off so her tag could be fitted to a crow in an attempt to cover up her death (here). Grid ref SE206937. Tagged by NE.
14th August 2021: Hen Harrier Josephine (Tag ID 213850) ‘disappeared’ at a ‘confidential site’ in Northumberland (here). Grid ref NY592841. Tagged by NE.
17 September 2021: Hen Harrier Reiver ‘disappeared’ in a grouse moor dominated region of Northumberland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
24 September 2021: Hen Harrier R2-F1-21 (Brood meddled in 2021, Tag ID 213918) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here). Grid ref NZ022667. Tagged by NE.
15 November 2021: Hen Harrier R2-F1-20 (Brood meddled in 2020, Tag ID 203003) ‘disappeared’ at the edge of a grouse moor on Arkengarthdale Estate in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref NY959039. Tagged by NE.
12 December 2021: Hen Harrier Jasmine (Tag ID 213848) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (High Rigg Moor on the Middlesmoor Estate) in the Nidderdale AONB in North Yorkshire (here). Grid ref SE034733. Tagged by NE.
Unknown date in 2021: Hen Harrier Maiden, tagged in Lancashire in 2021, ‘disappeared’ at unknown location (here). Tagged by RSPB.
Unknown date in 2021: Hen Harrier Awyr, tagged in Conwy in 2021, ‘disappeared’ on Ruabon grouse moor. Her tag/harness was recovered and an expert assessment concluded it had been cut off (here). Tagged by the RSPB.
2022
9 January 2022: Hen Harrier Ethel (Tag ID 213852) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here). Grid ref NY936632. Tagged by NE.
10 February 2022: An unnamed satellite-tagged Hen Harrier ‘disappeared’ in a grouse moor dominated area of the Peak District National Park (here). One year later it was revealed that the satellite tag/harness of this young male called ‘Anu’ had been deliberately cut off (see here). Tagged by RSPB.
12 April 2022: Hen Harrier Free (Tag ID 201121) ‘disappeared’ at a ‘confidential site’ in Cumbria (here). It later emerged he hadn’t disappeared, but his mutilated corpse was found on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. A post mortem revealed the cause of death was having his head twisted and pulled off. One (ringed) leg had also been torn off whilst he was still alive (here). Tagged by NE.
April 2022: Hen Harrier Pegasus ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor at Birkdale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
May 2022: An untagged breeding male Hen Harrier (Peak District 1) ‘disappeared’ from a National Trust-owned grouse moor in the Peak District National Park (here).
May 2022: Another untagged breeding male Hen Harrier (Peak District 2) ‘disappeared’ from a National Trust-owned grouse moor in the Peak District National Park (here).
14 May 2022: Hen Harrier Harvey (Tag ID 213844) ‘disappeared’ in the North Pennines (here). Grid ref NY918019. Tagged by NE.
20 June 2022: Hen harrier chick #1 stamped to death in nest on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
20 June 2022: Hen Harrier chick #2 stamped to death in nest on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
20 June 2022: Hen Harrier chick #3 stamped to death in nest on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
20 June 2022: Hen Harrier chick #4 stamped to death in nest on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
17 August 2022: Hen Harrier R1-M1-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID 232637) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref SD804893. Tagged by NE.
September 2022: Hen Harrier Sullis ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Cumbria (here). Tagged by RSPB.
5 October 2022: Hen Harrier R3-M2-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID 213920a) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref NY791016. Tagged by NE.
10 October 2022: Hen Harrier Sia ‘disappeared’ near Hamsterley Forest in the North Pennines (here). Tagged by RSPB.
October 2022: Hen Harrier R1-F1-21 (Brood meddled in 2021, Tag ID 213919) ‘disappeared’ in the North Sea off the North York Moors National Park (here). Tagged by NE.
1 December 2022: Hen Harrier R1-M1-21 (Brood meddled in 2021, Tag ID 55145a) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref SD917620. Tagged by NE.
7 December 2022: Hen Harrier R2-F2-20 (Brood meddled in 2020, Tag ID 55144) ‘disappeared’ from winter roost (same as R3-F1-22) on moorland in North Pennines AONB. Later found dead on 26 June 2023 with 3 shotgun pellets in corpse (here). Grid ref NY730372. Tagged by NE.
14 December 2022: Hen Harrier R3-F1-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID 213921a) ‘disappeared’ from winter roost (same as R2-F2-20) on moorland in the North Pennines AONB (here). Later found dead on 10 April 2023 with two shotgun pellets in corpse (here). Grid ref NY708423. Tagged by NE.
15 December 2022: Hen Harrier R2-F1-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID 213931) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref SD847831. Tagged by NE.
Unknown date in 2022: Hen Harrier Heath, tagged in Lancashire in 2019, ‘disappeared’ at unknown location (here). Tagged by RSPB.
Unknown date in 2022: Hen Harrier Syrcas, tagged in Conwy in 2021, ‘disappeared’ at unknown location (here). Tagged by RSPB.
2023
30 March 2023: Hen Harrier R1-F3-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID NY823039) ‘disappeared’ in Yorkshire (here). Grid ref NY823039. Tagged by NE.
March 2023: Hen Harrier (tagged), last transmission/sighting in Lancashire. No tag number provided. Reported in RSPB Birdcrime 2023, Appendix 4 (here).
1 April 2023: Hen Harrier R2-M1-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID NY846027) ‘disappeared’ in Yorkshire (here). Grid ref NY846027. Tagged by NE.
April 2023: Hen Harrier Lagertha ‘disappeared’ in North Yorkshire (here). Tagged by RSPB. Not to be confused with Lagertha tagged by NE & disappeared in 2020).
April 2023: Hen Harrier Nicola (Tag ID 234078) ‘disappeared’ in North Yorkshire (here). Grid ref SD831860. Tagged by NE.
April 2023: Untagged male Hen Harrier (Geltsdale 3) ‘disappeared’ from an active nest on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve in Cumbria (here).
April 2023: Another untagged male Hen Harrier (Geltsdale 4) ‘disappeared’ from an active nest on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve in Cumbria (here).
April 2023: Untagged male Hen Harrier ‘disappeared’ from an active nest in Co Durham (here).
4/5 May 2023: Hen Harrier Rush ‘disappeared’ from a grouse moor in Bowland AONB in Lancashire (here). Tagged by RSPB.
9/10 May 2023: Hen Harrier Dagda tagged in Lancashire in June 2022 and who was breeding on the RSPB’s Geltsdale Reserve in 2023 until he ‘disappeared’, only to be found dead on the neighbouring Knarsdale grouse moor in May 2023 – a post mortem revealed he had been shot (here). Tagged by RSPB.
17 May 2023: Hen Harrier Wayland ‘disappeared’ in the Clapham area of North Yorkshire, just north of the Bowland AONB (here). Tagged by RSPB.
31 May 2023: Hen Harrier R2-M3-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID 213932) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here). Grid ref NY765687. Tagged by NE.
11 June 2023: Hen Harrier R2-M1-21 (Brood meddled in 2021, Tag ID 213922) ‘disappeared’ in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref NY757000. Tagged by NE.
12 June 2023: Hen Harrier R1-M2-20 (Brood meddled in 2020, Tag ID 203004) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Co. Durham (here). Grid ref NY976322. Tagged by NE.
6 July 2023: Hen Harrier Rubi (Tag ID 201124a) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Co. Durham (here). Grid ref NY911151. Tagged by NE.
23 July 2023: Hen Harrier R1-F1-23 (Brood meddled in 2023, Tag ID 55154a) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Co. Durham (close to where Rubi disappeared) (here). Grid ref NY910126. Tagged by NE.
9 August 2023: Hen Harrier Martha ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (Westburnhope Moor) near Hexham in the North Pennines (here). Tagged by RSPB.
11 August 2023: Hen Harrier Selena ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (Mossdale Moor) in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
11 August 2023: Hen Harrier R3-F1-23 (Brood meddled in 2023, Tag ID 201118a) ‘disappeared’ in Co. Durham (here). Grid ref NZ072136. Tagged by NE.
15 August 2023: Hen Harrier Hepit ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (Birkdale Common) near Kirkby Stephen in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
24 August 2023: Hen Harrier R1-F2-23 (Brood meddled in 2023, Tag ID 55155a) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here). Grid ref NY679863. Tagged by NE.
August-Sept 2023: Hen Harrier Harmonia ‘disappeared’ in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). ‘Stop No Malfunction’. Tagged by RSPB.
September 2023: Hen Harrier Saranyu, tagged in Cumbria in June 2023, ‘disappeared’ in Durham in September 2023 (here). Tagged by RSPB.
September 2023: Hen Harrier Inger, tagged in Perthshire in July 2022, ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Angus Glens in September 2023 (here). Tagged by RSPB.
15 September 2023: Hen Harrier Rhys (Tag ID 213847a), tagged in Cumbria on 1st August 2023, ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref SD798896. Tagged by NE.
24 September 2023: Hen Harrier R2-F2-23 (Brood meddled in 2023, Tag ID 213929) ‘disappeared’ in the North Pennines (here). Grid ref NY888062. Tagged by NE.
26 September 2023: Hen Harrier Hope, tagged in Cumbria on 21 July 2023, ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref SD801926. Tagged by NE.
4 October 2023: Hen Harrier R1-M3-20 (Brood meddled in 2020, Tag ID 55153) ‘disappeared’ in Co Durham (here). Grid ref NY935192. Tagged by NE.
4 October 2023: Hen Harrier R4-F1-23 (Brood meddled in 2023, Tag ID 213925a) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref SE003981. Tagged by NE.
15 November 2023: Hen Harrier Hazel’ (Tag ID 240292) tagged in Cumbria on 21 July 2023, ‘disappeared’ on the Isle of Man (here). Grid ref SC251803. Tagged by NE.
7 December 2023: Hen Harrier R2-M1-20 (Brood meddled in 2020, Tag ID 55146a) ‘disappeared’ in Co Durham. Grid ref NY963211. Tagged by NE.
Unknown date in 2023: Hen Harrier Aurora, tagged in Dumfries & Galloway in 2022, ‘disappeared’ at unknown location (here). Tagged by RSPB.
2024
12 February 2024: Hen Harrier Susie (Tag ID 201122), found dead in Northumberland. Later revealed to have been the victim of shooting (here). Grid ref NY759585. Tagged by NE. Susie’s chicks were stamped to death at nest on moor at Whernside in 2022 (here).
15 February 2024: Hen Harrier Shalimar, tagged on the National Trust for Scotland’s Mar Lodge Estate in 2023, ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances on a grouse moor in the notorious Angus Glens (here). Tagged by RSPB.
24 April 2024: Hen Harrier Ken (Tag ID 213849a) ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances close to a grouse moor in Bowland (here). Grid ref SD684601. Tagged by NE.
17 May 2024: Hen Harrier R2-M2-23 (Brood meddled in 2023, Tag ID 213928) ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances next to Middlesmoor grouse moor in Nidderdale (here). Grid ref SE043754. Tagged by NE.
7 June 2024: Hen Harrier Edna (Tag ID 161143a). Decomposed corpse found next to a wind farm nr Otterburn, Northumberland. Listed as ‘suspected illegally killed’. There has been a suggestion she was killed elsewhere & dumped at the wind farm as a ploy to cover up the crime (here). Grid ref NY910827. Tagged by NE.
25 June 2024: Hen Harrier R2-F1-23 (Brood meddled in 2023, Tag ID 213923) ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances on a grouse moor in Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref NY985082. Tagged by NE.
July 2024: Hen Harrier Helius, tagged in Lancashire in 2023, ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances in Bowland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
29 July 2024: Hen Harrier (Tag ID 254843) tagged in Northumberland on 5 July 2024, decomposed corpse not suitable for post mortem but forensics work on her satellite tag showed shot damage (here). Grid ref NY824937. Tagged by NE.
October 2024: An un-tagged Hen Harrier was apparently shot on a grouse moor at Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales National Park by one of three gamekeepers being secretly filmed by the RSPB (here).
1 October 2024: Hen Harrier Dreich (Tag ID 254842) ‘disappeared’ in Lanarkshire (here). Grid ref NS826020. Tagged by NE.
15 October 2024: Hen Harrier Baldur (Tag ID 240291) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here). Grid ref NZ038961. Tagged by NE.
19 October 2024: Hen Harrier Margaret (Tag ID 254844) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here). It was later reported that her tag had been found (‘removed’) but no sign of the carcass (here). Grid ref NY878497. Tagged by NE.
2025
15 January 2025: Hen Harrier Red, hatched on the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve in 2024, ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in County Durham in the North Pennines, in the same area another tagged Hen Harrier (Sia) vanished in 2022 (here). Tagged by RSPB.
January 2025: Hen Harrier Ataksak was found poisoned close to a grouse moor in North Yorkshire (here). Apparently a police investigation is ongoing. Tagged by RSPB.
3 February 2025: Hen Harrier R3-F2-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID 213924) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the North York Moors National Park (here). Grid ref SE759996. Tagged by NE.
27 February 2025: Hen Harrier Sita, tagged on behalf of Hen Harrier Action in Bowland in 2024 ‘disappeared’ from a roost site on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
4 April 2025: Hen Harrier Bonnie (Tag ID 254841) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Moorfoots, Scotland (here). Grid ref NT415575. Tagged by NE.
10 April 2025: Hen Harrier Gill (Tag ID 240294) ‘disappeared’ in south Scotland (here). Grid ref NT440344. Tagged by NE.
1 May 2025: Hen Harrier Pete (Tag ID 213843) ‘disappeared’ in Cumbria (see here). Grid ref NY309418. Tagged by NE.
May 2025: Untagged Hen Harrier male (Geltsdale 5) with an active nest on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve in Cumbria ‘disappeared’. Strongly suspected to have been shot whilst away hunting on nearby grouse moor (here).
May 2025: Another untagged Hen Harrier male (Geltsdale 6) with another active nest on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve in Cumbria ‘disappeared’. Strongly suspected to have been shot whilst away hunting on nearby grouse moor (here).
May 2025: Hen Harrier Dynamo with an active nest on United Utilities-owned land in Bowland, Lancashire, ‘disappeared’. Strongly suspected to have been shot whilst away hunting on a nearby grouse moor (here). Tagged by RSPB.
May 2025: Untagged Hen Harrier with an active nest on United Utilities-owned land in Bowland, Lancashire, ‘disappeared’. Strongly suspected to have been shot whilst away hunting on a nearby grouse moor (here).
31 August 2025: An unnamed Hen Harrier, hatched and tagged on National Trust-owned moorland in the peak District National Park in 2025, ‘disappeared’ from Ruabon grouse moor, north Wales after arriving there three days earlier. Her tag data indicated she was dead on 31 August. Her tag/harness were recovered on 2 September and an expert assessment concluded it had been “intentionally severed” (here). Tagged by RSPB on behalf of National Trust.
9 September 2025: Hen Harrier Maria (Tag ID 281718) tagged in Northumberland on 25 July 2025, ‘disappeared’ near Belford in Northumberland. Grid ref NU125340. Tagged by NE.
17 September 2025: Hen Harrier Beatrix, who fledged from the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve in summer 2025, ‘disappeared’ from an area dominated by grouse moors near Allendale in the North Pennines (here). Tagged by RSPB.
27 September 2025: Hen Harrier Wadrew, who fledged from the RSPB Geltsdale Reserve in Cumbria in summer 2025, ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor near Birkdale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (see here). Tagged by the RSPB.
30 September 2025: Hen Harrier Morrigan ‘disappeared’ in the southern area of the North Pennines National Landscape (here). Tagged by RSPB.
14 October 2025: Hen Harrier Circe, hatched on the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve in 2025 and tagged on behalf of charity Hen Harrier Action, ‘disappeared’ in the Moorfoots, south Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
To be continued…
Of these 149 incidents, only one has resulted in a conviction – Head gamekeeper Racster Dingwall pleaded guilty at York Magistrates Court in January 2026 to conspiracy to kill a Hen Harrier on the Conistone & Grassington Estate in the Yorkshire Dales National Park in October 2024 (see here).
I had thought that when we reached 30 dead/missing Hen Harriers then the authorities might pretend to be interested and at least say a few words about this national scandal. We’ve now reached at least ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY NINE Hen Harriers, and still Govt ministers remain silent on the illegal persecution issue. They appear not to give a monkey’s. And yes, there are other things going on in the world, as always. That is not reason enough to ignore this blatant, brazen and systematic destruction of a supposedly protected species, being undertaken to satisfy the greed and bloodlust of a minority of society.
And let’s not forget the response from the (now former) Moorland Association Chair (and owner of Swinton Estate in North Yorkshire) Mark Cunliffe-Lister, who told BBC Radio 4 in August 2023 that, “Clearly any illegal [Hen Harrier] persecution is nothappening” (here), in the year when a record 32 Hen Harriers had been confirmed ‘missing’ and/or illegally killed.
Nor should we forget the response from the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust’s (GWCT) Director of Policy Dr Alistair Leake who wrote a letter to the Guardian newspaper in November 2023 stating that the Hen Harrier brood management [meddling] scheme “is surely a shining example of human / wildlife conflict resolution that would be the envy of other countries trying to find similar solutions“ (I kid you not – here).
Detective Inspector Mark Harrison of the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) who leads on the national Hen Harrier Taskforce gave a live online presentation on 27 January 2026 for the charity Friends of the Dales, about the work being undertaken to tackle the ongoing illegal killing of Hen Harriers in the UK. You can watch it on YouTube, here.
For new blog readers, an RSPB report Hen Harriers in the Firing Line, published last year provides a good overview of the illegal persecution of Hen Harriers on UK grouse moors, as does this news reel from Channel 4 News:
RARE HEN HARRIER VANISHES IN WELSH ‘BERMUDA TRIANGLE’ – WITH SATELLITE TAG CUT FROM ITS BODY
North Wales Police, RSPB and the National Trust are appealing for information after a satellite-tag was found cut from a missing Hen Harrier on a North Wales grouse moor.
Hen Harriers continue to be persecuted across the UK despite decades of legal protection, with most crimes associated with land managed for grouse shooting.
To deter these crimes RSPB Cymru is calling for the introduction of a licensing system for Red Grouse shooting and release of non-native gamebirds to protect native wildlife.
In late August 2025, a satellite-tagged female Hen Harrier vanished whilst on a driven grouse moor at Ruabon Moor near Wrexham. The bird had fledged from a nest on the National Trust High Peak Estate in the Peak District National Park and was satellite tagged by the RSPB, funded by the National Trust.
In late August, data showed that the young bird had left the National Park, settling on Ruabon Moor, a driven-grouse moor in North Wales on 28 August. On the night of 31 August the bird’s satellite tag data revealed that it was no longer alive. A search took place and the tag was located on Ruabon Moor on 2 September 2025 but there was no sign of the bird’s body. The tag was sent for forensic analysis by North Wales Police. Results revealed that the satellite tag’s harness had been deliberately cut (off) using a sharp implement, such as a knife. Despite searching, the body has not been found.
The young female Hen Harrier being fitted with a satellite tag on National Trust moorland in the Peak District National Park. A few weeks later she’d vanished from Ruabon Moor. (Photo: RSPB)
All wild birds are legally protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Anyone found to have killed or injured a bird of prey faces an unlimited fine and/or a maximum six-month jail sentence.
The Hen Harrier is a rare and vulnerable, red-listed species in Wales and across the UK. Its UK recovery is being directly impacted by illegal persecution with most crimes associated with land managed for driven grouse shooting. Decades of evidence such as the RSPB’s recently published Patterns of Persecution report, have shown that individuals on some gamebird shooting estates will illegally kill birds of prey to remove any perceived threat to their gamebird stock in an effort to maximise the number available to be shot. These crimes are often financially motivated.
Ruabon Moor is recognised as one of the UK’s most notorious bird of prey persecution hotspots. Between 2018 and 2026 incidents include:
the suspected persecution of five satellite tagged Hen Harriers
The satellite tags from three Hen Harriers were recovered. Two had harness damage consistent wiith human involvement; satellite data from the third tag suggested that it had been interfered with prior to the bird’s death.
Satellite tags on two Hen Harriers suddenly and suspiciously stopped transmitting without sign of malfunction.
the illegal poisoning of a Raven
the use of illegal hawk traps found in two consecutive years
These incidents are likely to represent only a fraction of the actual number taking place in this area in recent years – due to them often being committed at anti-social hours and in locations hidden away from the public.
Heat map showing confirmed bird of prey persecution incidents and suspicious disappearances of Hen Harriers in North Wales, 2018-2025. The hottest spot is Ruabon Moor. (Image by RSPB)
Mark Thomas, RSPB’s UK Head of Investigations:
“Sadly, this incident is a textbook example of Hen Harrier persecution and really shows the massive impact these crimes are having on this species. In this case a healthy young bird fledged from a safe area in the Peak District National Park and sadly chose to settle in Wales ‘Bermuda Triangle’ – the most notorious bird of prey persecution hotspot in the country. This three-month-old bird survived for just three days in the area before it vanished in highly suspicious circumstances. Based on years of evidence and intelligence, we suspect the criminal shot the harrier, cut the harness off the Hen Harrier’s body, discarded the tag and disposed of the body in separate locations to avoid detection. As recent incidents show, this area is a crime hotspot for Hen Harriers and other birds of prey and this has to stop“.
Julian Hughes, RSPB Cymru Head of Species:
“We have provided a dossier of evidence to Natural Resources Wales and have asked the new Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability to licence gamebird shooting in Wales. Without a clear deterrent and effective regulatory oversight, Hen Harriers and other birds of the prey will continue to be at risk. Through introduction of a statutory licensing system for all gamebird shooting in Wales these crimes could be effectively challenged – strengthening accountability whilst safeguarding the recovery of this species“.
Craig Best, General Manager for the National Trust in the Peak District:
“We are devastated to learn of the fate of this magnificent bird that started its life on moorland in our care in the Peak District. Hen Harriers are an important species in the ecosystem of moorland habitats. We work hard to make sure these birds have good nesting and feeding grounds. Funding from our supporters helps us to restore the landscapes they need to give them the best chance of survival. If persecution is allowed to continue, we stand to lose a very important species that is crucial to the health of these landscapes and it can’t continue“.
Sgt Peter Evans of North Wales Police Rural Crime Team said:
“In September 2025, North Wales Police received a report concerning the disappearance of a Hen Harrier on Ruabon Moor. Working in partnership with the RSPB and the National Wildlife Crime Unit, the harness was recovered and the investigation to date is inconclusive. Despite this, we can confirm that the harness had been intentionally severed, and the circumstances surrounding the bird’s disappearance are being treated as suspicious. Hen Harriers are a rare and protected species in Wales, making incidents of this nature particularly concerning. We urge members of the public to remain vigilant. If you witness any suspicious activity involving birds of prey, please report it to North Wales Police or the RSPB“.
Anyone with information relating to this crime please call North Wales Police on 101 or report a wildlife crime on their website.
Members of the public are urged to report any suspected incidents of bird of prey persecution by contacting the police on 101 and by submitting a report to the RSPB. This can be done via the RSPB’s online reporting form at www.rspb.org.uk/report-crimes or by calling the RSPB’s confidential Raptor Crime Hotline on 0300 999 0101. Reports via the RSPB’s reporting form and Raptor Crime Hotline can be made anonymously.
ENDS
My commentary:
I have no idea why it’s taken nine months for this story to emerge, when the Hen Harrier disappeared in late August 2025 and her ‘deliberately cut off’ satellite tag harness was found in early September 2025. The delay is disappointing, but the subsequent media release by the RSPB is detailed and provides good background history about incidents recorded either on or close to this grouse moor.
I’ve written previously about most of the confirmed and suspected persecution incidents that the RSPB has recorded at/near Ruabon, and I’ve also written about other strange discoveries here, uncovered by other organisations. Here’s the sorry history:
2018 – Satellite-tagged Hen Harrier called Aalin ‘disappeared’. No body or tag found.
2018 – Satellite-tagged Hen Harrier called Heulwen ‘disappeared’. No body or tag found.
2019 – Satellite-tagged Hen Harrier called Bronwyn ‘disappeared’. The tag was recovered with no body. The tag data indicated that the tag had likely been interfered with, prompting concerns of illegal killing.
2021 – A cage trap was reported to police with concerns over legality (suspected as being used to trap Goshawks). I don’t have further details of this case.
2021 – The RSPB reports a satellite-tagged Hen Harrier ‘disappeared’. Its tag was found and an expert assessment concluded it had been cut off. I didn’t have details of this incident so I asked the RSPB about it. It turns out to be a Hen Harrier called Awyr, tagged in Conwy in 2021. She is currently (incorrectly) listed on the RSPB’s Hen Harrier database as ‘fate unknown’, which is why she hadn’t appeared on my rolling list of dead/missing Hen Harriers. I’ll need to add her. The RSPB tells me its database will be corrected.
2022 – Another cage trap was reported to the police with concerns about its legality. It was close to the area where a similar trap had been reported in 2021. This time a gamekeeper was charged in relation to the alleged use of the trap to catch a Goshawk but he denied the charges and the case was later discontinued in 2024 by the Crown Prosecution Service (here).
2023 – A team called Wildlife Guardian discovered a quad bike parked up on the moor, covered in camouflage netting and ‘strewn with dead birds’. An armed gamekeeper was seen crouching in the heather nearby (here).
2025 – The satellite-tagged Hen Harrier that hatched on National Trust land in the Peak District in 2025 ‘disappeared’ and her tag harness was found, having been “deliberately cut off”.
2025 – North Wales Police launched an investigation after the Green Britain Foundation obtained undercover footage of individuals checking and setting snares at a stink pit next to Ruabon Moor, two years after snaring was banned in Wales (here).
I’m pretty sure that Ruabon Moor hasn’t been identified as a persecution hotspot by the police-led national Hen Harrier Taskforce, although I don’t know for certain because the hotspots have never been made public. When the Taskforce launched in 2024 it was stated:
‘The Hen Harrier Task Force is an initiative led by the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit and supported by seven police forces (Cumbria, Derbyshire, Durham, Northumbria, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire)…‘
which suggests the focus of the Taskforce is on grouse moor areas in northern England, not in north Wales.
Given that five tagged Hen Harriers have ‘disappeared’ on or close to Ruabon Moor since 2018, with the data from one tag (Bronwyn’s) indicating the tag was likely interfered with, and two other tags were deliberately cut off, it seems to me that the focus of the Hen Harrier Taskforce needs to be extended.
UPDATE 14.45hrs: 149 Hen Harriers confirmed ‘missing’ or illegally killed in UK since 2018, most of them on or close to grouse moors (here).
David Campbell, the former Head gamekeeper of Edradynate Estate in Perthshire, who was recently convicted of murdering his former colleague, groundsman Brian Low, has had his application to appeal his conviction rejected.
Former gamekeeper & convicted murderer David Campbell (photo Police Scotland)
The court heard how he’d ambushed Brian Low, 65, by laying in wait on a remote footpath near Aberfeldy where Mr Low walked his dog. Campbell used a shotgun to shoot and kill Mr Low on 16 February 2024 and then tried to cover up his whereabouts to avoid detection.
Campbell, 77, was jailed for life and was told he must serve a minimum term of 19 years before he is eligible for release. He submitted an application to appeal his sentence shortly after his conviction.
However, according to an article on the STV News website today, court officials have confirmed that his appeal against conviction has been refused.
I can’t say that I’m sorry, and I know plenty of others will feel the same way.
The trial of two Scottish gamekeepers, accused of offences relating to the alleged shooting and killing of Red Kites in the Cairngorms National Park in February 2025, armed trespass, and firearms offences, continued at Aberdeen Sheriff Court this week.
Head gamekeeper Graeme Rankin, 40, and assistant gamekeeper Steven Hague, 43, both of Glenbuchat Estate, have both denied the charges.
Red Kite photo by Ronnie Gilbert
The pair appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court for a four-day trial at the end of April 2025, after an earlier trial, scheduled for December 2025, was adjourned as the two defence lawyers, both KCs (Kings Counsel), lodged a motion suggesting the Sheriff should recuse himself from the hearing as he was an RSPB member (see here).
The four-day trial in April was extended because the court ran out of time to hear from all the witnesses. It resumed this week and evidence was heard on Monday and Tuesday.
Defence lawyers have now lodged a motion calling for the dismissal of all charges for alleged procedural irregularities. The case has been adjourned until July, when the Fiscal will respond to the defence’s motion and Sheriff Peter Hammond will decide on the outcome.
Here is a write-up of the trial hearings in April, written by court reporter Joanne Warnock of the Press & Journal, published on the PressReader website:
Two Aberdeenshire gamekeepers have gone on trial for allegedly shooting protected birds of prey in Cairngorms National Park.
Glenbuchat Estate workers Steven Hague, 43, and Graeme Rankin, 40, deny killing red kites in Knockie Wood or elsewhere in February 2025.
Hague and Rankin are also facing a charge of shooting a second red kite, while Hague is further charged with breaching the conditions of a firearms certificate and ammunition storage conditions.
A dead red kite was found by a member of the public in the Glenbuchat area on February 26 2025 and staff from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) attended.
Following a series of tests, experts concluded the bird had been shot, prompting a call to police.
One alleged shooting was said to have taken place between February 1 and 26 last year within Knockie Wood, owned at the time by Roderick McGilvary.
Mr McGilvary, who has since died, gave a statement in 2025 that was read to Aberdeen Sheriff Court, saying he had permitted Rankin to shoot vermin on his land.
William Johnston, 65, told the court he had been helping Mr McGilvary look after his woodland and installed a night-vision trail camera at his request to watch wildlife.
Footage played in court showed two men, both holding shotguns, walking through the woods.
As the men are seen walking away from the camera, which is triggered by a motion sensor, a shot can be heard and they return with one carrying what appears to be a dead bird of prey.
Mr Johnston told the court he shared the footage to Mr McGilvary and was able to identify both men.
Referring to the footage, Mr Johnston said: “The man on the left using the night scope, that’s Graeme Rankin. I can tell by his stance. On the right, that’s Steven Hague.”
Mr Johnston said he had a knowledge of weapons from his time in the Royal Engineers.
Under cross-examination from Brian McConnachie KC, representing Rankin, Mr Johnston told the court he knew the men from having attended shooting events and from living in the same local area.
Shotguns seized during a search of Rankin’s property on May 1 2025 were also shown in the court.
Police Scotland firearms licensing officer Robert Stewart, 53, told the court he could also identify Hague and Rankin from the trail camera footage.
He also pointed out details of one of the weapons and spoke of it having a longer magazine and an unusual hand grip.
The court heard both men held firearms certificates and were known to Mr Stewart.
Rankin also held a firearms dealership certificate, giving him the authority to issue rifles and ammunition.
Special constable Michael Flacherty, 65, told the court he could also identify Rankin from the trail camera footage, which he had viewed on a higher-resolution display than the one in court.
Wildlife officer PC Ann Ashman said a dead bird was discovered in Glenbuchat on February 26, near Easter Buchat.
Police were then contacted by Mr Johnston, who told them of his trail camera footage.
Ms Ashman read out a statement from landowner Mr McGilvary.
In it, he said he had given Rankin permission to shoot vermin on his land.
She told the court that during the execution of search warrants at Rankin and Hague’s addresses, they had found a carcass of a red kite, along with firearms, night-vision scopes and hunting clothing.
The red kite is protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.
The trial, under Sheriff Peter Hammond, will continue in June.
ENDS
NB: Comments are turned off as legal proceedings are still live.
I received a bizarre press release on Monday, issued by the charity, Restoring Upland Nature (RUN – a project developed from the South Scotland Golden Eagle Project).
The press release was providing ‘news’ of a young satellite-tagged Golden Eagle named Percy, who had suffered fatal injuries after a dispute with a territorial pair of Golden Eagles in south Scotland in late March 2026.
Golden Eagle Percy. Photo by John Wright
His death was due to natural causes, so not exactly ‘news’, although it’s understandable that the project team would want to keep people informed.
However, the press release then morphed in to some kind of gamekeeper love-fest, simply because some gamekeepers had found the critically injured eagle and had alerted the project team to his location.
Here’s the press release:
Whilst the actions of those gamekeepers who found Percy are to be applauded, the subsequent general portrayal of gamekeepers in south Scotland as being champions of eagle conservation needs a reality check, especially when you consider the recent surge in eagle persecution in this region:
Golden Eagle ‘Merrick’ was shot and killed whilst she was sleeping in a tree next to a grouse moor in the Moorfoot Hills in October 2023 (see here).
Golden Eagles ‘Tarras’ and ‘Wren’ disappeared in an area managed for gamebird shooting near Langholm in August 2025 (see here).
A White-tailed Eagle ‘disappeared’ in the Moorfoot Hills area in November 2025 (here).
Golden Eagle ‘Hamlet’ was found with shotgun injuries next to a grouse moor in the Tweed Valley in February 2026 (here).
It is clear from the post-mortem and his satellite tag data that Percy died from injuries inflicted by a territorial eagle and not at the hands of a gamekeeper. Perhaps that’s the newsworthy element of this story.
But I’m very interested in other cases where injured/dead raptors have been ‘found’ by gamekeepers and reported to the authorities, especially in areas with a long history of raptor persecution. It seems to me that this could create a perfect opportunity for the ‘false hero’ scenario.
Undoubtedly, there are decent gamekeepers out there who want to help with conservation efforts for raptors and other species. But equally undoubtedly, there are gamekeepers out there who want to kill raptors, and have done, and continue to do so.
How do you tell them apart?
By the way, in response to the ‘news’ that Percy died of natural causes, I’ve seen a few comments on social media suggesting that we should all apologise for blaming gamekeepers for his ‘disappearance’. For the record, Percy didn’t ‘disappear’, and I haven’t seen anybody suggesting that he did, or that gamekeepers were responsible. They used the same argument about Hen Harrier ‘Frank’ earlier this year – trying to play the victim card but without any evidence of being victimised.
A couple of weeks ago, the RSPB published its latest report, Patterns of Persecution, detailing the illegal killing of birds of prey in the UK, much of it taking place on land used for gamebird shooting.
In response, Scottish Greens MSP Mark Ruskell has lodged a parliamentary motion to acknowledge the report and express concern about the ongoing persecution of these birds.
It’s always interesting to see which MSPs sign up to support parliamentary motions, but particularly so after the recent May 2026 election. There are 64 new MSPs in the Parliament, many of whose views on this issue are untested.
If you’re a Scottish constituent and you don’t see your representatives’ names supporting this motion (both constituency and regional list MSPs), you might want to give them a nudge and ask them why they haven’t signed it.
Of the 20 who have put their name to it so far, nine are from the SNP, 10 from the Scottish Greens and one is from Labour.
If you’re not sure who your MSPs are, you can find them here.
Incidentally, congratulations to Mark Ruskell MSP who has been voted to serve as Convenor on the new Rural Affairs Committee. That is very good news. The new line-up looks like this:
A few weeks ago I presented a webinar for the Yorkshire-based charity, Friends of the Dales, as part of its Eyes to the Skies campaign, which launched last year to raise awareness about the illegal killing of birds of prey in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
My talk was about how the long-term illegal killing of raptors in Scotland had led to the direct consequence of a 2024 parliamentary decision to introduce grouse moor licensing north of the border.
So, not specifically about raptor persecution in the Yorkshire Dales, but, given that the Westminster Government has just announced its intention to consider the licensing of all gamebird shooting in England, it seemed timely to talk through the Scottish experience to give people an idea of what might lay ahead.
The webinar has now been uploaded to YouTube and is available to watch on the Friends of the Dales channel here, or you can watch it directly from here:
It’s one of four webinars in the Friends of the Dales’ Eyes to the Skies campaign. The other three are:
Kate Jennings, UK Head of Site Conservation & Species Policy at the RSPB, who talked about the work of the RSPB’s Investigations Team and reiterated the RSPB’s stance on licensing for gamebird shooting due to its links to illegal raptor persecution (available on YouTube, here).
Detective Inspector Mark Harrison from the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU), who talked about the work of the Unit and specifically about the work of the Hen Harrier Taskforce (available on YouTube, here).
Indy Kiemel Greene and Adrian Rowe from the charity Hen Harrier Action, who talked about Hen Harriers and the work of the charity to raise awareness about the illegal persecution of this species (available on YouTube, here).
Unsurprisingly, some members of the gamebird shooting industry have not been at all happy about the Friends of the Dales’ awareness-raising campaign, nor their choice of speakers. I can’t think why.
Nor have they been happy with the petition launched by Friends of the Dales, calling the UK Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Mary Creagh MP) to bring in legal reform to help stop the illegal persecution of birds of prey. The petition has secured over 6,000 signatures so far, and needs many more. Please consider signing it, and if you already have (thank you), please share it with your friends and families.
The illegal killing of Hen Harriers on British grouse moors has been known, for years, to be the main cause of the species’ desperately low population size in the UK.
This male hen harrier died in 2019 after his leg was almost severed in an illegally set trap that had been placed next to his nest on a Scottish grouse moor (see here). Photo by Ruth Tingay
The sheer weight of scientific and police evidence, collected over several decades, has led to this fact being undisputed by successive Governments, statutory conservation agencies, the police’s National Wildlife Crime Unit, scientists, raptor workers, conservationists….in fact everyone, except for those representing the grouse shooting industry.
That shouldn’t surprise anyone. These crimes are a public relations disaster for the grouse shooting industry, more so than any other environmentally and socially damaging aspects of grouse moor management, of which there are many.
As grouse shooting has fallen under closer scrutiny over the last decade or so, and the threat of regulation looms large in England (and has already been introduced in Scotland), the grouse shooting industry has been in overdrive in its attempts to portray itself as being benign at worst, and ‘a conservation success story‘ at best. It has also gone to great lengths to try and discredit and smear the reputations of any organisation, or individual, who has dared to challenge this view.
So today’s latest effort, a so-called ‘analysis’ of Hen Harrier tag data, published by the Moorland Association (grouse owners’ lobby group in England), that purports to show that ‘missing’ tagged Hen Harriers probably haven’t been killed by grouse moor gamekeepers, shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone.
The Moorland Association has produced what it calls a ‘Comprehensive Satellite Tagging Register’, supposedly documenting the fates of 269 Hen Harriers from 2002 to part way through 2025. The title itself is a complete misnomer because the spreadsheet includes 99 Hen Harriers that were fitted with radio tags, not satellite tags, way back in the early to mid 2000s before satellite tags came to the fore.
The Moorland Association writes on its website,
“We are not asking anyone to take our word for any of it; we are asking them to check it“.
So I did.
It wasn’t a comprehensive check – it didn’t need to be. I simply looked at the data for several well known Hen Harriers and could immediately see that at least seven of them had incorrect information assigned to them. If that’s the level of incompetence, found with just a quick glance at the data, how on earth is anyone supposed to trust any subsequent ‘analysis’ of the data?!
The seven incorrect entries that were found very quickly are:
Hen Harrier Bowland Beth(also known as Bowland Betty). The Moorland Association’s Register states her body wasn’t recovered, and neither was it submitted for post mortem. Actually, her body was recovered, on the Swinton Estate, North Yorkshire, and a post mortem was undertaken, revealing she had a fractured left leg which led to her death. A pioneering forensic examination followed, undertaken by scientists at the University College London Institute of Orthopaedics and Musculoskeletal Science, who found a tiny fragment of lead at the site of the fracture, confirming that she had been shot. According to the Countryside Alliance, this expert scientific evidence was just ‘supposition’ (see here).
Hen Harrier Rowan (Hawk & Owl Trust tag). The Moorland Association’s Register states that Rowan’s body was recovered, but it wasn’t submitted for a post mortem. Actually, his body was submitted for a post mortem at the Zoological Society of London, whose expert vets concluded, “ … the bird’s injuries were entirely consistent with it having been shot“, despite the Hawk & Owl Trust (in bed with the grouse shooters at that time) claiming the findings were “not wholly conclusive” (see here).
Zoological Society of London radiograph showing Rowan’s fractured leg
3. Hen Harrier Free. The Moorland Association’s Register states that Free’s body wasn’t recovered and nor was it submitted for a post mortem. Actually, Free’s mutilated corpse was discovered, on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park and it was submitted for a post mortem, which revealed the cause of death was having his head twisted and pulled off. One (ringed) leg had also been torn off whilst he was still alive (here).
4. Hen Harrier Asta. The Moorland Association’s Register states that Asta’s body wasn’t recovered and nor was it submitted for a post mortem. This is technically accurate, but her satellite tag was later found crudely attached to a Crow, in a sick ploy to disguise the crime, and it was determined that Asta’s wings must have been ripped off for the harness to have been removed intact from her body (here).
5. Hen Harrier Susie. The Moorland Association’s Register states that Susie’s body was not recovered and it was not submitted for a post mortem. Actually, Susie’s body was recovered, from a grouse moor in the North Pennines, and it was submitted for a post mortem, which revealed she’d been shot, although it couldn’t be determined if that was the cause of death (here).
6. Hen Harrier Edna. The Moorland Association’s Register states that Edna’s body was not recovered and it was not submitted for a post mortem. Actually, Edna’s body was recovered, and it was submitted for a post mortem, but it was too decomposed for the pathologist to determine a cause of death. The police still suspected she’d been illegally killed, and there are suggestions that her tag data had shown she’d been killed elsewhere and then transported to a windfarm to make it look as though she’d collided with a wind turbine (here).
7. Hen Harrier Margaret. The Moorland Association’s Register states that Margaret’s body was recovered but that it wasn’t submitted for a post mortem. Actually, Margaret’s body was not recovered, but her satellite tag was, and an examination revealed it had been ‘removed’ (here).
I’m sure if I looked harder I could find other examples of inaccurate data but there’s no need to spend any more time looking, because these initial seven are enough to render the Moorland Association’s ‘analysis’ as flawed.
It’s not clear who produced this spreadsheet for the Moorland Association because there isn’t a name attributed to it, which seems odd when the Moorland Association’s main tenet is that it is being transparent whereas the RSPB is not. Perhaps the author was Mr G. Keeper.
There’s also a ‘report’, to accompany the (flawed) data set. This document is hilarious, and it’s no wonder the author didn’t want their name on it. For a start, they’ve grouped together two very different types of tracker (radio tags and satellite tags) with an unqualified assumption that the outcomes are comparable without taking into consideration the massive number of variables between the two operating systems.
Inevitably, the report attacks the RSPB because the RSPB declined to share their satellite tag data with the Moorland Association. The author contends that this is because the RSPB has something to hide. Yeah, giving up highly sensitive data to the very industry that’s responsible for this species’ perilous conservation status makes perfect sense, right?
The author goes on to argue that the RSPB’s interpretation of its own data is flawed because the RSPB’s mapping resolution is too broad. Good grief. Does the author not understand that the RSPB’s analysis is based on a very high mapping resolution but that it only publishes low resolution data to protect sensitive information?!
Critical thinking is entirely absent from this report.
The Moorland Association’s accompanying blog to this ‘report’ claims that its ‘analysis’ challenges the findings of the Murgatroyd et al (2019) paper. That’s the paper that demonstrated that at least 72% of Hen Harriers satellite-tagged by Natural England were presumed to have been illegally killed on or close to driven grouse moors (see here). The Murgatroyd paper was published in one of the world’s top-rated peer-reviewed scientific journals:
The Murgatroyd paper was based on a comprehensive and complex statistical analysis of Hen Harrier satellite tag data. Funny, I didn’t find any statistical analysis in the Moorland Association’s anonymous ‘report’, just a multi-coloured word salad based on inaccurate data.
If the Moorland Association is so certain of its ‘analysis’, perhaps it will submit its findings to a peer-reviewed scientific journal?
Raptor Persecution UK 