Press release from Police Scotland (1 December 2025):
APPEAL FOR INFORMATION AFTER BIRD OF PREY SHOT IN ABERDEENSHIRE
Officers are appealing for information after a bird of prey was shot in Aberdeenshire.
On Saturday, 8 November, 2025, a member of the public found an injured goshawk in the Whiterashes area.
The bird was recovered with the help of the Wild Arc Wildlife Rescue Centre but died before arriving at a vet.
Following further enquiries, it was established that the bird had been shot.
Goshawk with a crow. Photo by Ronnie Gilbert
Constable Ann Ashman, of the Wildlife Crime Unit, said: “Goshawks are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, and it is illegal to kill any protected species.
“Our enquiries are ongoing and we are working with our partner agencies to establish the full circumstances of this incident.
“I would appeal to anyone with any information that may assist our investigation to contact us. Your information could be vital in establishing what has happened.
“If you were in the Whiterashes area that day and saw anything suspicious – or have any information about shooting activity in the area – please contact us.
“Anyone with information is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101, quoting incident number 1942 of 8 November.”
A trial begins today at Perth Sheriff Court for a Scottish gamekeeper accused of killing a Goshawk on a Perthshire shooting estate.
The alleged incident took place on 12 February 2024 on a shooting estate near Blairgowrie.
Goshawk with a Pheasant. Photo by Ronnie Gilbert.
Police Scotland, with the assistance of partners from the RSPB and Scottish SPCA, executed a search warrant on the estate on 29 February 2024, leading to the arrest of a 47-year-old gamekeeper and subsequent charge (see here).
He has pleaded not guilty.
NB: As this case is live, comments are turned off until legal proceedings have ended.
UPDATE 12 November 2025: Trial of Scottish gamekeeper accused of killing Goshawk now delayed until March 2026 (here)
The BBC’s Highland Cops programme has entered its third series and episode 2 features the police investigation in to an active Goshawk nest that had been shot out on a sporting estate near Kingussie, on the western side of the Cairngorms National Park.
This investigation took place in June 2024 – see here for the police’s appeal for information at the time.
Screengrab from BBC Highland Cops programme
Officers had received a report of the active Goshawk nest being found abandoned in suspicious circumstances in a forest near Loch Gynack, and the programme follows experienced wildlife crime officer PC Dan Sutherland throughout his investigation.
The commentary from Dan is excellent – he speaks calmly and with authority about the link between illegal raptor persecution and gamebird shooting estates, and how the criminals have been getting away with their crimes for so long. That’s not opinion or conjecture, it’s based on factual evidence, and I applaud him for being prepared to say it on camera, knowing full well that it will attract vicious retaliation from some within the gamebird shooting industry, including, I have no doubt, official letters to his superior officers demanding punitive action against him.
Dan visits the abandoned Goshawk nest where he finds empty shotgun cartridges at the base of the tree and a shotgun wad is found lodged in the bottom of the nest.
The nest is removed for forensic examination, along with several nearby tree branches. They’re taken to the Kincraig Wildlife Highland Park for x-rays, which reveal a large number of shotgun pellets:
As Dan says, the evidence is damning.
He then teams up with PC Gavin Ross from the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) and they set out to visit all the people who legally own shotguns in the area, to either rule them out of the enquiry or to see if they can provide assistance.
The first person they visit is a gamekeeper who lives on the estate. They knock at his house and a woman speaks to them through a crack in the door, telling them he’s not in. As the officers leave to go and visit the next person on their list, Dan gets a phone call from a solicitor who tells him that none of his clients will be talking to the police without him being present.
“It’s the nature of the beast”, says Dan.
Dan and Gavin comment to one another that the speed of the solicitor’s phone call is probably some kind of record – coming in less than ten minutes after they’d knocked on the gamekeeper’s door. Their wry smiles tell you this is a common occurrence and was not unexpected. It puts a halt to their investigation until they can organise a time to meet with the shotgun owners and their legal representative.
PC Gavin Ross & PC Dan Sutherland take a call from the gamekeeper’s solicitor (screengrab from BBC Highland Cops).
If someone had shot out a Goshawk nest on my land, potentially killing any adults or chicks present on the nest, and the police knocked on the door to see if I could assist, I’d be welcoming them in with open arms, breaking out the tea and posh biscuits and offering up all the assistance I could muster to help them find the culprit, especially if there was evidence that armed criminals had been active on my property. I certainly wouldn’t be calling in my attack dog solicitor to warn off the cops. Why would I?
At the end of the programme there’s an update on the case – the police did meet with the shotgun owners and their solicitor. The text on the screen says:
‘However, with no new leads the case has been closed‘.
I guess it was probably the usual ‘no comment’ interviews, then.
According to Andy Wightman’s excellent Who Owns Scotland website, Loch Gynack is situated on the Glenbanchor & Pitmain Estate, whose owner, Pitmain Holding Ltd, is registered in Grand Cayman:
It’s not the first time a police investigation has taken place there in relation to suspected wildlife crime. In 2019, four Greylag Geese were found poisoned at Loch Gynack – toxicology results showed they’d ingested the banned pesticide Carbofuran, so dangerous that it’s an offence to even possess this chemical in Scotland, let alone use it.
The birds had been found by estate workers who reported the incident to the police. There wasn’t any information about whether poisoned bait had been discovered and so no information about where they’d come in to contact with the Carbofuran, although given how fast-acting it is and the fact the geese were found dead together in one place, I’d think it unlikely they’d been poisoned far away.
Nobody was charged and the estate was not subject to a General Licence restriction.
Back to the Goshawk case…
The police were first notified about the abandoned Goshawk nest on 8 June 2024. This was after the enactment of the Wildlife Management & Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024 on 30 April 2024, which introduced a licence for grouse shooting in Scotland.
I don’t know whether the Glenbanchor & Pitmain Estate applied for a grouse shooting licence in 2024. I don’t even know if they still shoot Red Grouse there (they certainly have done previously – e.g. see here and here) or whether they’ve switched to Red-legged Partridges and Pheasants as alternative quarry due to low grouse stocks, in which case they’d be exempt from needing a grouse shooting licence because the Scottish Government refused to include the shooting of RLPs and Pheasants as part of the requirement for a grouse shooting licence, despite being warned about this massive loophole.
It would be interesting to know whether (a) Pitmain Estate did apply for a grouse shooting licence in 2024, (b) if so, did NatureScot grant them a licence even though this wildlife crime investigation was ongoing, and (c) if the estate does have a five-year grouse shooting licence, will the licence be withdrawn following this incident or was the Goshawk nest beyond the area where the licence applicant indicated Red Grouse are ‘taken or shot’ (yet another loophole)?
Aside from the questions around a potential grouse shooting licence, I’ve been interested in whether NatureScot would impose a General Licence restriction following the police investigation in to the shot out Goshawk nest.
In June this year I submitted an FoI to NatureScot to ask about the status of any pending General Licence restriction decisions. My main focus was on the case concerning a Golden Eagle called ‘Merrick’ who had been shot and killed whilst she was sleeping in the Scottish Borders in October 2023.
You’ll already know that NatureScot has still not made a decision on whether to impose a General Licence restriction as a result of that crime, two years after it happened (see here).
But as well as asking about the Merrick case, I also asked how many other cases were pending.
NatureScot wrote back to me in July and said this:
You can see that the case involving the shot out Goshawk nest is included on the list (‘an incident that occurred in the Highland Council area in June 2024‘).
NatureScot says it asked Police Scotland in December 2024 for the information package NS would need to begin the process of considering whether to impose a General Licence restriction.
Seven months on, in July 2025 when NatureScot responded to my FoI, Police Scotland hadn’t provided the information to NatureScot.
The Highland Cops programme demonstrates the evidential difficulties faced by the police when investigating suspected wildlife crimes, particularly those that take place on privately-owned gamebird shooting estates, and the lengths the police will go to to find out who was responsible. It was the very reason that the Scottish Parliament introduced grouse shoot licensing as part of the Wildlife Management & Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024.
The efforts made by PC Dan Sutherland and his colleagues were exemplary in this case. But someone, somewhere, has dropped the ball in the later stages of the enforcement process by not providing an information package in a timely manner. That’s just not good enough.
The Highland Cops episode (series 3, episode 2) is available on the BBC iPlayer here. It’s well worth an hour of your time.
The alleged incident took place on 12 February 2024 on a shooting estate near Blairgowrie.
Police Scotland, with the assistance of partners from the RSPB and Scottish SPCA, executed a search warrant on the estate on 29 February 2024, leading to the arrest of a 47-year-old gamekeeper and subsequent charge (see here).
The gamekeeper has pleaded not guilty and his trial was due to begin next Monday (22 September 2025).
It’s now been put back until November 2025.
NB: As this case is live, comments are turned off until legal proceedings have ended.
UPDATE 11 November 2025: Trial begins today for Scottish gamekeeper accused of killing a Goshawk on a Perthshire shooting estate (here)
The alleged incident took place on 12 February 2024 on a shooting estate near Blairgowrie.
Police Scotland, with the assistance of partners from the RSPB and Scottish SPCA, executed a search warrant on the estate on 29 February 2024, leading to the arrest of the gamekeeper and subsequent charge.
The trial will begin on 22 September 2025.
NB: As this case is live, comments are turned off until legal proceedings have ended.
UPDATE 17 September 2025: Change of trial date for Scottish gamekeeper accused of killing a goshawk on a Perthshire shooting estate (here)
Appeal for information from North Yorkshire Police on Facebook (12 May 2025):
Did you see anything suspicious?
Our Rural Task Force is appealing for information following the suspected shooting of a buzzard in the North York Moors National Park.
The Buzzard is thought to have been killed near to, Beck Hole Road, Goathland on Friday 2 May, and we are appealing for anyone who may have seen any suspicious people or vehicles in the area to please come forward.
Buzzards and all other birds of prey are legally protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. To intentionally kill or injure one is a criminal offence which could result in an unlimited fine or up to six months in jail.
If you have any information that could help please email Chris.Unsworth@northyorkshire.police.uk or call North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2 and ask for Chris Unsworth.
If you wish to remain anonymous you can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 via their website.
Please quote NYP reference 12250082575 when passing on information.
ENDS
Goathland is probably best known to many as the filming location of the TV series ‘Heartbeat’. To me it’s known as one of a number of raptor persecution hotspots in the grouse moor-dominated North York Moors National Park.
Goathland is almost surrounded by intensively-managed driven grouse moors and in 2020 video footage emerged purporting to show a gamekeeper killing a Goshawk that had been trapped inside a Jackdaw-baited trap on one of the Queen’s grouse moors, part of the Duchy of Lancaster (see here and here).
Channel 4 News did a very good follow-up piece here.
A couple of years earlier, a group of local residents from Goathland got together and called a series of public meetings to discuss their concerns about the environmental damage caused by driven grouse moor management in their area, and particularly their concerns about ‘disappearing’ wildlife, notably satellite-tagged Hen Harriers. The North York Moors National Park has been identified in an excellent scientific paper based on Hen Harrier satellite tag data as the place with the highest risk of HH death/persecution in any of our National Parks – it’s no coincidence that the NYMNP also holds the largest expanse of grouse moors within its boundary.
Notes from the Goathland community meetings of disgruntled residents can be read here, here and here.
If you look at the map showing the distribution of signatures on Wild Justice’s recent Ban Driven Grouse Shooting petition, it’s worth noting the high number of signatures in this area. I hope they’ll be making their voices heard again if/when the Government’s petitions committee announces the date for a debate in Westminster Hall.
The latest appeal from North Yorkshire Police about the suspected shooting of a buzzard near Goathland is a bit vague. It’s not clear if the appeal is a result of a witness report of someone seen shooting a Buzzard or whether a corpse has been found and is awaiting post mortem.
The police appeal says, ‘The Buzzard is thought to have been killed near to, Beck Hole Road, Goathland on Friday 2 May…‘.
Here is an annotated map from Guy Shrubsole’s brilliant website Who Owns England, showing the extent of the Duchy of Lancaster grouse moors (purple) around Goathland. I’ve added the approximate location (in red) of the Beck Hole Road.
UPDATE 22 May 2025: Incident update – Buzzard found dead near Goathland in North York Moors National Park ‘was shot’ (here).
Some good news for birds of prey! DEFRA has endorsed Natural England’s recommendations for a presumption AGAINST the issuing of licences for taking birds of prey from the wild for falconry and aviculture.
A licensing policy review was undertaken by Natural England following the furore in 2020 when NE issued licenses for the removal of young peregrines from the wild for a purported captive-breeding programme.
That news had generated heated arguments both for and against the licences, as reported on Mark Avery’s blog (e.g. see here, here and here). In 2022 NE said that although licences had been issued in 2020, ‘the licenses expired earlier this year with no chicks having been taken‘. It’s not clear why the licences weren’t used.
Young peregrines on a nest ledge. Photo by Ruth Tingay (taken under licence)
In 2022, licences to take birds of prey from the wild were temporarily suspended whilst NE began a fairly comprehensive licensing policy review which included a public consultation with wide stakeholder engagement from the falconry and non-falconry communities. Natural England has published links to various reports resulting from the consultation process, here.
The species most frequently mentioned by those wanting to take birds from the wild for falconry purposes were peregrine (58%), sparrowhawk (58%), merlin (22%) and goshawk (10%). One individual falconer respondent mentioned buzzard and golden eagle. However, many falconer and non-falconer respondents considered the latter two species to be unsuitable for inclusion in a future wild take licensing regime. In the case of golden eagles, it was stated that this was due to their rarity in England. Many falconers also considered merlin to be unsuitable for inclusion due to their rarity.
The consultation process included detailed evidence from the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) about the increase in the legal and illegal trade in peregrines, both for the domestic and international market, and how licensed ‘wild take’ may add to the problem.
Many of you will be familiar with Operation Tantallon, the recent successful multi-agency investigation leading to the subsequent prosecution and conviction of two peregrine launderers in south Scotland who were selling wild Scottish peregrines to wealthy falconers in the Middle East (see here).
The scale of their offending was considerable and I heard at a wildlife crime conference earlier this week that many more cases are currently under investigation as a result of Operation Tantallon.
In October 2023 Natural England’s ‘wild-take’ licensing review came to an end and drew the following conclusions:
Wild take is not integral to the present-day practice of falconry or aviculture in England. Few modern falconry texts define falconry as involving the use of ‘wild’ birds of prey and there are limited historical references to the cultural importance of wild take or of wild-taken birds to British falconers. No clear consensus exists within the falconry community or in the available falconry literature regarding the cultural importance of wild take as a core aspect of falconry practice.
Despite rapid growth in the popularity of falconry in recent decades, the available evidence suggests that there are sufficient birds of the relevant species readily available – via captive populations – to meet current demand. There is no evidence of significant inbreeding risks in these captive populations and captive-bred birds are generally considered to perform to a similar standard as wild birds when used for falconry purposes.
Most non-falconers are opposed to licenced wild take on ethical grounds and have concerns regarding the potential impacts of falconry and wild take on the conservation and welfare of the species affected. Both falconers and non-falconers are supportive of additional measures to ensure that individuals keeping birds of prey have suitable experience in caring for such birds.
Few respondents to the public call for evidence expressed a desire to gain commercially from wild take. However, risks identified relating to the illegal trade in birds of prey nevertheless suggest a need for strict controls on commercial use of such birds alongside improved traceability and other measures to be taken forwards by the responsible agencies. Difficulties in tracing individual birds under current arrangements mean there is a credible risk that the offspring of a wild bird taken under licence could be illegally laundered via commercial breeding operations into the domestic and international trade.
On the basis of the above conclusions, Natural England put forward the following recommendations to DEFRA in late 2023 and advised that a clear policy statement should be published for England setting out the following:
That licences permitting the wild take of native birds of prey for falconry or avicultural purposes should not be issued other than in exceptional circumstances;
That the commercial use of native birds of prey taken from the wild under a licence issued for falconry or avicultural purposes – and any offspring of such birds –should not be permitted other than in exceptional circumstances; and,
That the power to grant licences remains on statute, with the adopted policy (as above) subject to future evidence-based review as required.
These are the recommendations that DEFRA has now endorsed and has implemented the policy of a presumption AGAINST issuing licences to take wild birds of prey for falconry and aviculture.
Natural England has stated that, ‘Whilst the power to grant licences will remain on statute, Defra ministers support the view that licences should not be issued, other than in exceptional circumstances. No evidence was provided during the review process that would support the issuing of licences for any specific exceptional circumstances at the present time‘.
There’s a useful Natural England blog on the subject, here.
For those interested in Natural England’s policy review, it can be read/downloaded here:
Earlier this year I blogged about the prosecution of a gamekeeper from Ruabon Moor, near Wrexham, Wales in relation to wildlife crime offences alleged to have been committed in 2022: Using a trap to kill or take a wild bird and possession of an article capable of being used to commit a summary offence.
The first court hearing was heard at Wrexham Magistrates Court on 28 March 2024 but by April 2024 the case had been discontinued without public explanation (see here).
The circumstances of this case, and the reason it was discontinued, have now been reported in the RSPB’s 2023 Birdcrime Report (page 25), reproduced here:
Hawk trap in Wales – case discontinued by the Crown Prosecution Service
In March 2022, an RSPB Investigations Officer discovered a large cage trap in an area of private woodland bordering Ruabon Moor, near Wrexham, Wales.
The trap consisted of two compartments, one lower section contained two live Magpies and one upper section fitted with a trigger-mechanism door. Decoy birds, such as Magpies, are often used lawfully in cage traps to attract other Magpies which perch on the trigger mechanism, causing the trap door to close on them and they are then dispatched under license by the trap operator. However, the design of this trap gave concern – notably the thickness of the trigger perch – which was considered only capable of being triggered by a large and heavy bird, likely one with a greater mass than a Magpie or Carrion Crow.
It was decided that the cage trap was interesting enough for the RSPB to deploy remote surveillance cameras. Whilst it is unknown who placed the trap, the subsequent footage obtained showed an individual attending the trap and no one else. On the final RSPB visit, all three RSPB cameras and the trap had gone. Interestingly, Goshawks were noted in the area during the RSPB visits, a species that is slowly expanding its range and increasing in numbers, after years of persecution nationally.
The RSPB reported the trap to North Wales Police and shared the footage which had been gathered. A police investigation was launched and the individual in the footage was subsequently identified and charged by the police with offences relating to the possession and use of the trap. The case reached court, but in March 2024 was discontinued by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), on the grounds that it was not in the public interest to prosecute, as the penalties for any subsequent conviction were low, there were potential identification issues and that no birds had been seen to have been killed.
RSPB, North Wales Police and the National Wildlife Crime Unit were surprised at this outcome and questioned the decision directly with the Chief Crown Prosecutor for England and Wales. The matter was passed to CPS Wales and Iwan Jenkins, the Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor for Wales, who in a letter stated: “I believe that in this case the decision not to proceed should have been the subject of further discussion.” He continued “The matter required more detailed discussion and consideration before arriving at the final decision.” Sadly, by then it was too late.
It is unknown what the trap was being used for, or what the outcome of the case would have been if it had progressed, but as a result of the CPS decision not to prosecute the defendant is now fully cleared of any wrongdoing. Going forward, it is hoped that much better dialogue can be achieved between prosecutors and the specialist agencies who spend valuable resources investigating wildlife related incidents.
ENDS
The RSPB’s 2023 Birdcrime report can be found here.
Press release from Police Scotland (28 June 2024):
APPEAL FOR INFORMATION AFTER GOSHAWK NEST FOUND ABANDONED NEAR LOCH GYNACK
Police are appealing for information after a suspected attempt to target birds of prey in the Strathspey area.
On Saturday, 8 June, 2024, officers received a report of an active Goshawk nest having been found abandoned in suspicious circumstances, within a forest near Loch Gynack.
Enquiries were carried out at the site, in partnership with RSPB Scotland, showing the nest had been deliberately targeted with a shotgun. The nest and damaged branches were taken for x-ray with the assistance of staff at the Kincraig Highland Wildlife Park.
Police Constable Daniel Sutherland, Highland and Islands Wildlife Crime Liaison officer, said: “All birds of prey are fully protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and it is illegal to kill them. I am asking anyone in the local community who may be able to help with our enquiries to come forward.
“The area is close to popular walking paths from Newton More. If you were walking in the area during May or early June, and may have seen or heard anything suspicious, then please get in touch.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101, quoting reference CR/0211821/24, or make a call anonymously to the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
ENDS
UPDATE 24 October 2025: BBC’s Highland Cops programme features investigation into shot out Goshawk nest in Cairngorms National Park (here)
Raptor Persecution UK 