Category: News

Rise in bird of prey poisonings in Scotland – 2009 figures just released

Depressing but wholly anticipated news today, as the raptor poisoning incidents from 2009 are released. Based on data from the government’s Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture section (SASA), the figures show an increase on 2008 incidents.

The usual ‘map of shame’ has been trotted out, not telling us anything new at all and once again, the names of the estates involved have all been removed.

News story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8570464.stm

Scottish government press release: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2010/03/16120046

We’ll be writing an opinion piece about this miserable news in due course, and will provide readers with information about ways you can express your disgust and concern about these relentless crimes to the people who are in a position to do something about it.

Sheriff tells wildlife crime investigator to “get a life”

Sheriff Kevin Drummond, who has presided over many wildlife crime cases in the Scottish Borders, has told a wildlife crime investigator to “Get a life”. His outburst came at the 2010 Police Wildlife Crime Conference last month, when a suggestion was made that sentencing for wildlife crime was too lenient.

Before becoming a Sheriff, Drummond worked as a defence QC for, amongst others, the Scottish Gamekeepers Assoc.

Sheriff Drummond is chairman of the Scottish government’s Partnership for Wildlife Crime (PAW) Legislation, Regulation and Guidance sub-group. Last year, the Scottish government claimed that wildlife crime was a priority issue and that it was working closely with PAW to address the problem. It seems Sheriff Drummond didn’t get the memo.

Calls are now being made for him to step down from his position on the PAW Committee, but Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham insists he’s staying put.

For the full story: http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/transport-environment/outrage-as-wildlife-sheriff-tells-police-officer-to-get-a-life-1.1011661

Scottish police accused of failing to tackle wildlife crime

POLICE forces in Scotland have been accused of failing to tackle wildlife crime after it was revealed that just 24 cases of illegal killing of birds of prey have been taken to court in five years.

Out of 157 cases involving killing the birds – including golden eagles, red kites and hen harriers – just 15 per cent have resulted in court action.

And the average penalty for a crime linked to persecution of birds of prey was just £240, despite the maximum available penalty being £10,000 or a year in jail.

Read more at: http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/news/System-39failing39-on-wildlife-crime.6130378.jp

goshawk shot in North Yorkshire

The dead goshawk.

Although the main focus of this blog is raptor persecution in Scotland, we will also be documenting incidents in other parts of the UK.

In early March 2010, a young goshawk was killed in Bransdale, North Yorkshire. An x-ray revealed the bird had been shot. A police investigation is underway.

According to a 2009 report by the RSPB, North Yorkshire has the worst record for raptor persecution incidents in England.

http://www.maltonmercury.co.uk/news/Anger-after-Goshawk-shot-in.6117021.jp

Young golden eagle poisoned in Ireland

The body of the poisoned golden eagle found in Ireland in February 2010.

Raptor persecution is not just limited to Scotland. It is also prevalent in other parts of the UK and the Irish Republic. We will be highlighting these incidents on this blog in due course, beginning with the young golden eagle that was found poisoned in Ireland in February 2010.

Any golden eagle poisoning event is tragic, but this one particularly so. This 10 month old eagle hatched in the wild in Donegal in 2009 and became one of the first wild-bred golden eagles in Ireland for over 100 years. The Golden Eagle Trust has been working hard to re-establish a population of golden eagles in Ireland, after they were persecuted to extinction during the last century. Young golden eagle chicks have been donated from nests across Scotland (typically from nests containing two chicks where usually only one chick would survive naturally) and released and monitored throughout north-west Ireland.

This eagle had been poisoned by Nitroxynil, which had been poured over the fleece of a dead lamb.

For further detailed information, please see: http://www.goldeneagle.ie/news_viewnews.php?x=5&z=132&news_id=11&article=262

RSPB deliver petition to Scottish government

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

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

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

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

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

Welcome!

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

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

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

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