Following the police raid at Moy Estate, Inverness-shire yesterday, two men have been reported to the Procurator Fiscal in connection with alleged offences under the Wildlife & Countryside Act and alleged firearms offences.
BBC news story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/10237454.stm
Police have conducted a raid on the Moy Estate, near Inverness, following the recent discovery of poisoned bait and dead raptors. The RSPB has been undertaking surveillance for several weeks at the estate after a dead grouse was found to have been used as a poisoned bait. This culminated in today’s police raid, where evidence (believed to include dead birds) has been removed for further investigation and toxicology tests. No arrests have been made as yet.
The 25,000 acre Moy Estate is a well-known grouse-shooting estate, and, rather embarrassingly, was one of the signatories of the recent letter to the government from numerous sporting estates who claimed to condemn raptor poisoning. Two people from Moy Estate signed the letter – Victor Beamish is the 19th signatory, and Estate owner Celia Mackintosh is the 143rd signatory. Click here to view that letter: SRPBA LETTER MAY 2010
Yet another instance demonstrating the worthlessness of that letter. Well done Moy Estate, you have earned a place in our Named Estates directory. I can’t wait to hear what the SRPBA, SEBG and SGA have to say about this. I expect that Moy Estate will be expelled from all three groups, and that all three groups will also boycott the forthcoming Moy Field Sports Fair, being held on Moy Estate on 6th & 7th August 2010. You don’t think so? No, me neither, but if these three organisations wish to be taken seriously, they will stick to their previous promises and demonstrate their ‘condemnation’ of the illegal raptor persecution activities apparently uncovered at Moy Estate.
Full news story about the police raid: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/10224789.stm
And here: http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1767321?UserKey=
UPDATE: A quote from SRPBA Chief Executive Douglas McAdam about this incident, “We do not yet know the full facts of this case. We are appalled none the less at what appears to be yet further illegal persecution against Scotland’s wildlife, but we do need to await the outcome of the legal process to determine where guilt lies“. http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/scotland/Children-tracking–red-kite.6340484.jp
Douglas, I don’t think you need to be Inspector Clouseau to work this one out!
In December 2009, a walker found an injured red kite in Braco, Perthshire. X-rays revealed it had been blasted with a shotgun, five times, from close range. The kite’s injuries were horrific and it was feared the bird would not survive (see the post on this blog from 3 March 2010). No arrests were made.
Six months later, after extensive treatment and care provided by the SSPCA, the rehabilitated kite was released back to the wild yesterday. Congratulations to all involved with this bird’s recovery.
News story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/10215466.stm
It seems that the news report from The Sunday Times last weekend was a wee bit hasty, and was the result of the Scottish Gamekeepers Association’s Chairman Alexander Simpson Hogg opening his mouth when he’d have been better off keeping it shut.
According to a statement posted on several birding discussion groups’ websites from Stuart Housden, Director of RSPB Scotland:
“This [story about licences being granted to kill buzzards] is completely erroneous and is based on misinformation put out by the Gamekeepers organisation SGA [Scottish Gamekeepers Association].
We [RSPB] would be as concerned as anyone if this was to happen – but to strengthen our negotiating position with the Scottish Government you and others may wish to make your concerns known to our Environment Minister, Roseanna Cunningham MSP. The Scottish Government is considering clarifying how it issues licences to control birds alleged to be doing damage – and we have been active making the case as strongly as we can for conservation.
The article in The Sunday Times that started this rumour had a strong quote from the RSPB making clear we want the law upheld and that raptors fully deserved the protection they have”.
For anyone interested in expressing their views to Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham MSP, here is her e-mail address: ministerforenvironment@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
In an astonishing act of short-sighted stupidity, the Scottish government, backed by Scottish Natural Heritage, the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, and the Scottish Gamekeepers Association, has announced that licences to kill protected raptor species such as buzzards will now be issued to gamekeepers who can demonstrate that 10% of their gamebirds have been killed by birds of prey, according to an article in The Times.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article7134049.ece
Roseanna Cunningham (Scottish Environment Minister) and SNH – you should be ashamed of yourselves – we expected better from you. Ministers claim that the new licensing scheme will help to prevent illegal raptor persecution. Just how thick are you? The illegal killing will continue, and its effects on the raptor population will be further magnified because ‘legal’ killing will now also be allowed.
Chairman of the Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA) Alex Hogg has been campaigning for licences to kill raptors for over ten years now. His latest statement that “growing buzzard predation is causing serious welfare issues” is nothing short of delusional. This is not about “welfare issues” but is all about financial issues. If Alex was so concerned about the welfare of gamebirds, he & his fellow gamekeepers wouldn’t be releasing over 43 million of them into the countryside each year, just so that commercial hunting parties can come along and blast them from the sky! Buzzards and other raptors have taken about 100 years to recover from the effects of Victorian persecution, and now this legal persecution is set to begin again. Have we learned nothing from our past mistakes?
Roseanna Cunningham, Environment Minister? You’re having a laugh. And this, the International Year of Biodiversity.
This blog will be monitoring which estates are issued with these licences to kill our protected species and will report the findings here.
Well, well well. Now here’s a turn up for the books. Over 200 Scottish landowners/shooting estate owners have written a letter to Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham, to condemn illegal raptor poisoning and to call for the “full weight of the law” to be brought down on those who commit these crimes. http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1747106/?UserKey=
This is a real change of strategy from the landowners, because usually after a persecution incident, they bleat on about how gamekeepers are ‘unfairly blamed’ and that the body of the dead golden eagle/white-tailed sea eagle/kite/buzzard/peregrine/harrier/sparrowhawk/short-eared owl/kestrel/tawny owl/goshawk or whatever other species has just been persecuted, must have been planted by ‘animal rights’ activists to cause trouble for the gamekeepers. They’ve been denying any involvement for years, as demonstrated by these two links below. Regular readers of this blog will know better, of course.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20010826/ai_n13961693/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/aug/27/conservation
Now, whilst this new public condemnation of illegal persecution is to be applauded, I can’t help but ponder over the motive. It wouldn’t be anything to do with the speech that SNH Chairman Andrew Thin made recently about ‘pompous and selfish’ landowners, would it? http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article7120640.ece
Or the growing calls from the general public for shooting estates and gamekeepers to be licensed, so that when they commit wildlife crime, they can be properly penalised where it hurts (by having their licence revoked) instead of the pathetic admonishments and fines that they currently get.
Or perhaps it’s the latest brainchild of the SGA, who think that if they can demonstrate good behaviour and stop any criminal activities, the government would be more inclined to provide them with legal licences to kill raptors – licences that SGA Chairman Alex Hogg has been pursuing for over ten years now – fortunately with limited success so far:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/gamekeepers-want-to-kill-birds-of-prey-598863.html
http://www.scottishgamekeepers.co.uk/content/breakthrough-raptor-control-0 )
http://www.shootingtimes.co.uk/news/387448/Buzzard_licence_refused_by_the_Scottish_Government.html
Whatever next? Full disclosure of the names of estates where illegal raptor persecution incidents have been discovered? No, thought not. Nice try landowners, but to be convincing you’ll have to do better than simply writing a letter.
Police have launched an investigation after a clutch of peregrine eggs have been reported stolen from a monitored nest site near Thornhill, Dumfries & Galloway.
PC Plod will have his work cut out catching the culprits, as there are so many to choose from – in the past, peregrines have been targeted by egg collectors, falconers, pigeon fanciers and gamekeepers.
Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/8691393.stm
THREE golden eagles, a buzzard and a sparrowhawk have been found dead on Skibo Estate, Sutherland, in the last week. The bodies have been sent for toxicology analysis at the government laboratory in Edinburgh, on suspicion that they had been poisoned. Now, unless those THREE golden eagles all died of old age at the same time on the same estate, and the buzzard and sparrowhawk died of a heart attack at seeing the dead eagles, I think it’s fair to assume that the toxicology results will prove to be positive and that some of these birds have been illegally killed by someone with access to poison. Even PC Plod should be able to work out the connection here.
The police investigation is continuing and no arrests have been made. A statement from Skibo Castle said: “The owners and management of Skibo Castle are committed conservationists and do everything they can to support the welfare of wildlife and birds. We will cooperate fully with the authorities in their investigation”.
BBC news story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/8676871.stm
Skibo is a prestigious highland estate and was the location for Madonna’s marriage to Guy Ritchie in 2000. The estate includes a 3,000 hectare grouse moor and a members-only hotel. Skibo was bought for £23 million in 2003 by Ellis Short, an American multi-millionaire investment banker who also owns Sunderland football club. In 2007, his wife, Eve Short, is alleged to have threatened two pensioners who were walking their dogs on the estate, telling them she would have her gamekeeper shoot the dogs if they were seen again. According to the report, the estate later apologised to the pensioners after realising that the pensioners had every right to walk their dogs there, under the rules of the Scottish Access Code. http://dogblog.dogster.com/2007/01/07/obnoxious-owner-of-skibo-castle-threatens-to-shoot-pensioners-and-their-small-dogs-for-walking-on-property/
A third white-tailed sea eagle has been found poisoned in the space of one month in Ireland. The latest victim was found by schoolchildren on a kayaking trip in Kerry, within one kilometre of the other two poisoning incidents. It is suspected that farmers in this area are placing sheep carcasses laced with poison to kill the eagles.
When will these stupid, selfish bastards stop? Probably not until the penalties for raptor persecution are increased substantially.
Full story: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/uk-ireland/sea-eagles-killed-by-poisoning-14804830.html
Oh dear. It looks like those fools who run PAW have made a serious error of judgement (again). The news section on the PAW website contains information about a recent deer training course for Police Wildlife Crime Officers and a Procurator Fiscal, helping them to understand the process from slaughter to table. All well and good….that is until you read where the training course was held…
Balmanno Farm.
For the eagle-eyed amongst you, you will recognise the name ‘Balmanno’ from the Named Estates section of this blog, and also from the blog entry on 5th March 2010. These entries refer to a conviction for wildlife crime of a gamekeeper on the Balmanno Estate. A poisoned buzzard (killed by Carbofuran), gin traps and an egg collection were found on this estate in 2001-2002, and a gamekeeper was convicted of wildlife crimes at Perth Sheriff Court on 12th November 2003. A quick google search identifies Balmanno Farm as being part of the Balmanno Estate in Perthshire.
Click here for the PAW press release: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Environment/Wildlife-Habitats/paw-scotland/news/TrainingEvenReport190310
Well done PAW! Your credibility is plummeting to new depths.
Raptor Persecution UK 