Andrew Muir MLA, Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs made the following statement in the Northern Ireland Assembly this week:
“The killing of birds of prey, whether deliberately or through improper use of pesticides or other poisons, is deplorable, it’s a crime, and it diminishes our biodiversity.
I recently met with the Northern Ireland Raptor Study Group, RSPB and Ulster Wildlife last week to discuss this issue and I recognise the need to address bird of prey persecution in Northern Ireland and am determined to take more action to help stamp out this repugnant activity.
My department is exploring ways to strengthen the enforcement and sanctions for the current plant protection product [PPP, also known as pesticides] legislation relating to storage and use of unauthorised plant protection products.
A new working group will also be established to pull together relevant stakeholders and fully consider a potential road map and requirements for any new secondary legislation to prohibit the possession of dangerous pesticides in Northern Ireland in the next Assembly mandate“.
Wow! 14 years of can-kicking by DAERA (Dept of Agriculture, Environment & Rural Affairs) seems to have finally been brought to an end by this decisive commitment to take action from Minister Muir.
Without doubt, this is a direct result of evidence-collecting and campaigning by the Northern Ireland Raptor Study Group (NIRSG), led by the wonderful Dr Eimear Rooney & Dr Marc Ruddock.
Following the discovery in May 2023 of two illegally poisoned White-tailed Eagles at Glenwherry, Northern Ireland’s only driven grouse moor, the NIRSG began a petition calling for Ministers to add a list of proscribed poisons to section 15B of the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985, which has been missing from the legislation since it was last updated in 2011.
That petition attracted over 50,000 signatures (including many RPUK blog readers – thank you) and was handed in by the NIRSG to Minister Muir at Stormont last month, with support from the RSPB and Ulster Wildlife.
A week later, the Police Service of Northern Ireland revealed that a Red Kite had been found illegally poisoned in a raptor persecution hotspot in County Down (here).
Minister Muir’s recognition of this long-standing and ongoing issue, and his pledge to actually do something about it, is very welcome news and is in stark contrast to Defra’s pathetic filibustering on the same issue in England.
Huge congratulations to the Northern Ireland Raptor Study Group and their partners – this is a big win.
The debate on banning driven grouse shooting took place at Westminster Hall on Monday 30 June 2025, as a result of Wild Justice’s petition passing 100,000 signatures.
Wild Justice shared its views on the debate in its newsletter this morning, as follows:
On Monday afternoon, and in a 34-degree heatwave, Wild Justice headed to the Houses of Parliament to watch our petition be debated by backbenchers in Westminster Hall. This is the third time in nine years that a petition on this subject has met the criteria for a debate (100,000 signatures) but the first time under a Labour government. A massive thank you to everyone who helped it past the threshold (again).
Following Labour’s woeful response to our petition when it reached 10,000 signatures – in which they stated, ‘The Government has no plans to ban driven grouse shooting’ (see our blog here) – we didn’t have high hopes for a particularly reasoned or informed debate.
Only two Labour MPs turned up to contribute on Monday – the brilliant Olivia Blake MP (Sheffield Hallam), and Sam Rushworth MP (Bishop Auckland). [Ed: actually there was a third Labour MP, Joe Morris from the Hexham constituency, who didn’t make a speech but did make one intervention to ask about introducing vicarious liability for landowners as in Scotland].
As usual, Olivia – whose constituency yielded the highest number of signatures on our petition, and whose residents have to live alongside the polluting smoke and flooding caused by driven grouse moors – was brilliant. As the standalone backer of our petition in the debate, she clearly and firmly articulated her support, highlighting the subjects of air pollution, environmental degradation and criminal activity.
An amusingly dry comment was her suggestion to those employed, often on very low wages, by the industry charging up to £7,000 for a day’s grouse shooting; “If I were a beater, I might be unionising to take more of that profit home to my family.”
Mr Rushworth’s arguments were less coherent, stating firmly his dedication to animal welfare and his stance against fox hunting, whilst also defending an industry known for its illegal persecution of birds of prey and its legal, yet unethical, killing of wildlife such as the routine killing of foxes, referred to by the industry as ‘vermin’.
Why did so few Labour MPs – and not a single Green MP – turn up to the debate? Is this subject deemed by them to be in the ‘too difficult’ category? Are Labour perhaps wary of upsetting other ‘countryside’ groups after the reprisals over their unpopular ‘family farm tax’ proposals? Or do they simply not care about the widespread criminality and environmental damage associated with driven grouse shooting?
We know lots of you contacted your MPs over the last few weeks and asked them to attend the debate on Monday – so they can’t argue that they were unaware of the issues or of the debate. It would be interesting to hear how they account for their absence if any of you decide to challenge them on it.
Ban Driven Grouse Shooting – a game of BINGO
Although there was an almost empty house to defend our petition, we did enjoy a full house of grouse shooting BINGO. When challenged on its bad practices and poor track record, the driven grouse shooting industry has a few well-rehearsed and worn-out lines it peddles on repeat. Watching the debate on Monday we enjoyed crossing off the usual list of cliches, tropes and outright lies.
Some of our highlights included:
Claims that the driven grouse shooting industry has a ‘zero tolerance for raptor persecution’. Last week the RSPB published new figures which showed 102 Hen Harriers have been confirmed or are suspected to have been illegally killed between 2020 – 2024, mostly from areas managed for driven grouse shooting in northern England.
By the way, Greg Smith MP gets the star bonus prize for the most absurd statement which made us laugh out loud during the debate: ‘Gamekeepers are not the enemy of the hen harrier; they are its strongest ally in the uplands’. Mr Smith (a self-declared member of the Countryside Alliance & BASC) can look forward to a fruitful career on the panto circuit when his parliamentary career is over.
‘The UK has 75% of the world’s heather moorland, which is ‘rarer than rainforest’’. Upland heather moorland is an artificial, man-made habitat created by management techniques including burning vegetation on vast areas of peatland, causing air pollution and increasing carbon emissions. The ‘75%’ myth is also totally inaccurate and was debunked six years ago in this excellent blog by Professor Steve Carver of Leeds University.
‘Managed grouse moorland also provides a defence against tick-borne diseases’. This desperate claim came from Shadow Defra Minister Robbie Moore MP, and its irony wasn’t lost on us. A recent scientific study suggests that ticks found in woodlands where lots of Pheasants are released are two and a half times more likely to carry Lyme disease bacteria than ticks found in woodlands where no Pheasants are released (see here). Perhaps the ‘guardians of the countryside’ should consider stopping the annual release of 50 million non-native Pheasants if they’re so concerned about the prevalence of tick-borne diseases.
Daniel Zeichner, Defra Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs, rounded off the ‘debate’ by providing the Government’s position on our petition. He repeated Labour’s earlier stance about having no plans to ban driven grouse shooting but this time adding, “we keep options under close review”. Not close enough, obviously.
He did acknowledge the cast-iron link between driven grouse shooting and the illegal persecution of birds of prey but then feebly muttered, “There are strong penalties in place for offences committed against birds of prey and other wildlife, and anyone found guilty of such offences should feel the full force of the law. Penalties can include an unlimited fine and/or a six-month custodial sentence” (emphasis is ours).
These statements are routinely trotted out by Defra in an attempt to gaslight the public into thinking there’s no need to worry about illegal raptor persecution because measures are in place to tackle it. The very reason that raptor persecution continues on driven grouse moors is because the criminals there know that (a) there is only a miniscule chance of being caught, and (b) even if they are caught, the punishment is of little consequence. The one, and only, custodial sentence ever given to a gamekeeper for committing raptor persecution offences was a case in Scotland in 2014, when a gamekeeper was filmed by the RSPB trapping a Goshawk and clubbing it to death with a stick, amongst other offences. He was given a four-month custodial sentence. Every other gamekeeper convicted since then has received either a small fine (probably covered by his employer) and/or a short community service order.
There’s no effective deterrent and Labour’s trite regurgitation of the words ‘should’ and ‘can’ demonstrates its appalling unwillingness to stop this brazen criminality. That is unforgiveable.
There was one spark of credibility in the Minister’s closing speech, and that was his referral to the Government’s recent public consultation on proposals to extend the Heather and Grass etc. Burning (England) Regulations 2021, including a change to the definition of deep peat from 40cm depth to 30cm depth, which would effectively ban the burning of heather on many driven grouse moors across northern England. It was evident from the speeches made by the Conservatives in the debate that this issue is of HUGE concern to them and their grouse-shooting mates. We look forward to hearing the Government’s announcement on those proposals in the near future.
John Lamont MP (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) first introduced and then concluded the debate, saying in reference to the petition’s 104,000 signatories, “I suspect those people will be a little surprised by the lack of balance in this debate.”
Was Wild Justice surprised at this lack of balance? No, not at all. But motivated? Absolutely. We will of course not be giving up when it comes to the fight to end this environmentally damaging and unjust so-called ‘sport’, mired in wildlife crime and savage animal cruelty.
Onwards and upwards!
ENDS
I must confess that I pretty much zoned out during the ‘debate’, such was the predictability of the propaganda/speeches from the pro-grouse shooting MPs. I was mostly interested in what DEFRA Minister Daniel Zeichner would have to say at the end of the debate. Whilst waiting for him to speak, though, my ears did prick up at the specific mention of some infamous grouse moor areas.
We had Kevin Hollinrake MP (Conservative, Thirsk & Malton) say this:
“I have beautiful moorland, including in Hawnby, Bransdale, Farndale, Snilesworth and Bilsdale—I am very proud of those areas and have visited a number of times“.
The grouse moors of the North York Moors National Park have long been identified as a raptor persecution hotspot, and North Yorkshire as a whole is repeatedly recognised as the worst county in the UK for reported raptor persecution crimes. Not much to be proud of there, Mr Hollinrake.
Sam Rushworth MP (Labour, Bishop Auckland), whose constituency includes some notorious grouse moors in the North Pennines, which is another well-known raptor persecution hotspot, spoke about attending a recent ‘Lets Learn Moor’ event with primary-age schoolchildren. He also mentioned being “disgusted by the criminality that sometimes occurs on the moorland“. I wonder if he realises that these events, funded by BASC, are facilitated by the Regional Moorland Groups, many of whose members have been under police investigation into suspected and confirmed raptor persecution crimes? Awkward. [Ed: Update 3 July 2025 – Pro-grouse shooting Labour MP Sam Rushworth received £10,000 donation from local grouse moor gamekeeper group – here].
And then there was Jim Shannon MP (DUP, Strangford, NI), a fully-signed up member of the Countryside Alliance, BASC and the Ulster Farmers Union, who treated us to this:
“I want to mention the Glenwherry shoot, which is the only grouse shoot in Northern Ireland. It is sponsored by BASC and the landowner. It is a success, but why is that? To start with, Glenwherry had no more than about 10 grouse, but it built that up. As others have said, the magpies, the crows, the greybacks, the foxes and the rats —all the predators—were controlled. It was gamekeepered, and the heath and moorland was burnt in a controlled burning, so that it could regenerate and produce the heather for the young birds and the grouse. Today, that is a successful grouse shoot. Why is it successful? Because grouse shooters know how to do it. They know how to deliver a successful grouse shoot. The lapwings and curlews also gathered momentum as a result. They have a place to breed every year because of the efforts of the gamekeeper and the landowner—the efforts of those who put money into the grouse shooting to make it a success“.
Would that be the same Glenwherry grouse moor shoot where two illegally poisoned White-tailed Eagles were found dead, side by side, in May 2023? Strange that Mr Shannon forgot to mention them.
Two illegally poisoned White-tailed Eagles found dead on Glenwherry, Northern Ireland’s only driven grouse moor. Photo by Northern Ireland Raptor Study Group.
Hen Harriers were mentioned throughout the debate but it was Minister Zeichner’s reference to the Hen Harrier Taskforce, “…which is using technology such as drones and strategic partnerships to detect, deter and disrupt offenders and is targeting hotspot areas and suspected hen harrier persecution” that caught my attention.
Zeichner claimed that, “Early signs suggest that it is having a positive impact“.
Really? That’s not my understanding. The HH Taskforce has been withholding details of multiple suspected and confirmed Hen Harrier persecution incidents over the last year. There are probably legitimate reasons to withhold information about the most recent cases as the police investigations are active but some of the other cases date back many months, some of them from over a year ago. It is simply not credible to argue that making an announcement about those cases will affect an investigation at this stage. I suspect there are other, political reasons for withholding those cases from the public and I’ll set out my reasoning in future blogs – there’s too much to include here.
For those who want to watch the recording of the Ban Driven Grouse Shooting debate you can find it here.
For those who want to read/download the debate transcript, it’s here:
NUMBER OF HEN HARRIERS KILLED OR MISSING REACHES NEW HIGH
Over the past five years, record numbers of Hen Harriers have been killed or have gone missing according to a new report from the RSPB.
Most of these incidents have occurred on or near grouse moors in northern England.
The RSPB is calling on the Westminster Government to introduce licensing of grouse shooting in England as has happened in Scotland to act as a meaningful deterrent to wildlife crime.
One of the rarest birds in the UK – the Hen Harrier – has seen record numbers being illegally killed or going missing in suspicious circumstances over the past five years.
An illegally killed Hen Harrier. Photo: Ruth Tingay
A new RSPB report – Hen Harriers in the firing line – shows that the majority of the 102 incidents occurred on or near grouse moors. Hen Harriers breed in the uplands of Britain and this is where they come into conflict with grouse shooting.
Hen Harriers are a rare, protected species, known for their acrobatic ‘skydancing’ courtship display over the uplands. The Hen Harrier is categorised as a red-listed species in the UK, due to its low breeding population levels, following historic declines as a result of human persecution.
Despite several conservation initiatives over the past twenty-five years, the Hen Harrier is now the most persecuted bird of prey in the UK for its population size.
The UK population increased between 2016 and 2023, however, 2023 was the worst recorded year for persecution. Hen Harriers remain far less abundant or widespread than they should be, and the current UK population estimate represents only a quarter of the potential population their ideal habitat can support, and in England it is less, about 10%.
Despite being legally protected, multiple studies and reports confirm that criminal activity is the main factor limiting the recovery of Hen Harrier in the UK, causing a reduction in nesting success, annual productivity, and survival of breeding birds. Despite decades of persecution no one in England has ever been convicted of an offence. Most of these crimes take place in remote areas where such activity is hard to detect and a criminal burden of proof against the perpetrators near impossible to secure.
Dr James Robinson the RSPB’s director of operations said “The last five years have seen a record number of illegally killed or disappearing Hen Harriers with 102 suspected or confirmed incidents, the majority happening on or close to grouse moors. This species will not recover until the criminal activity stops, and for this to happen we need regulation of the grouse shooting industry, specifically, the introduction of a licencing system for shoots in England, so estates proven by the Police and Natural England to be linked to raptor persecution would simply lose their licence to operate.”
Another recent study which investigated the illegal killing of Hen Harriers in association with gamebird management showed that the survival rates of Hen Harriers in the UK are “unusually low” with birds surviving for an average of just 121 days after leaving the nest, and persecution accounting for 27-41% of deaths of Hen Harriers aged under one year and 75% of deaths in birds aged between one and two years. It also highlighted a strong overlap between Hen Harrier mortality and the extent of grouse moors.
This new report contains the details of Hen Harriers being shot, their chicks being stamped on and one bird having its head pulled off whilst still alive. This alongside 112 satellite-tagged birds disappearing on or near grouse moors between 2010 and 2024 has led the RSPB to yet again call on the government to regulate the industry and licence grouse moors, as is now law in Scotland.
The Wildlife Management and Muirburn Act, passed in March 2024, means all grouse shoots in Scotland require a licence to operate, and this licence could be revoked if evidence suggests a crime has been committed. Licensing is based on evidence to a civil burden of proof, meaning that it is easier to take action when persecution has taken place. This progressive legislation will help ensure legal and sustainable management across a significant area of upland Scotland and introduces a much-needed deterrent for those who kill birds of prey for economic reasons. But England now lags behind.
This report comes ahead of a parliamentary debate at Westminster Hall on Monday 30 June on the future of Grouse Shooting, triggered by petition launched by the campaign group Wild Justice. Over 100,000 people signed their petition calling for a ban on driven grouse shooting, as they, like the RSPB, want to see an end to the illegal killing of birds of prey and other harmful practices associated with the grouse shooting industry. Action on this issue by Government in England is long overdue, and we will be expecting to hear how the Government intends to end the killing, before it is too late for England’s Hen Harriers.
The RSPB is to be congratulated for putting this report together. A lot of the information contained within it is already well-known, but this report brings it all together in one place. What is new is the hotspot mapping of satellite-tagged Hen Harriers (both RSPB-tagged birds and Natural England tagged birds), and although the detail is coarse, the overall distribution pattern is clear, showing the main hotspots in areas where the land is intensively managed for driven grouse shooting.
The timing of this publication is also very helpful, given the forthcoming Westminster debate on Wild Justice’s latest petition calling for a ban on driven grouse shooting, which takes place next Monday (30 June 2025).
It’s clear from both the press release and the report that the RSPB prefers a licensing approach to regulate driven grouse shooting, rather than a ban. There will be many who disagree with that stance, me included, although I wouldn’t object if Labour committed to bringing in a licensing scheme because it’s better than doing nothing at all and will take us one step closer to getting a ban when the licensing scheme inevitably fails. But now is not the time to argue about that.
The bigger picture here is that the Labour government, and MPs from other parties, have an opportunity to put on record what they think about the scale of the criminal raptor persecution that continues on many driven grouse moors.
The ongoing illegal persecution of raptors is the most difficult of all the issues associated with driven grouse shooting for the shooting industry to defend. It’s a crime, it’s abhorrent, the public hates it, and the evidence showing the extent of it just keeps piling up.
The shooting industry has no defence for it so instead it has resorted to a long-running campaign of smearing those of us who have brought the persecution issue to the public’s attention, in a desperate attempt to discredit our reputations and integrity.
In the run up to this latest Westminster debate, several shooting organisations have tried to play down the significance of another debate on this issue and have argued that this latest debate is pointless and that MPs have more important things to be discussing and there’s ‘no threat here to grouse shooting’. It’s telling though, the amount of pro-grouse shooting propaganda those same organisations have been frenziedly pumping out in recent weeks – it reveals that they are indeed concerned that the public spotlight will once again be on their criminal and environmentally damaging activities.
It’s also been revealing to watch the different organisations contradictorily falling over themselves in a bid to impress their members, by each claiming to be ‘leading the charge/fight’ against us pesky campaigners. For example, on 29 May 2025 the Countryside Alliance ran this headline: ‘Countryside Alliance leads charge against Westminster anti grouse shooting debate‘ and on 10 June 2025 a BASC headline read: ‘BASC leads the fight for driven grouse shooting ahead of debate‘. This level of posturing is a bit of a giveaway as to their level of concern.
This latest report on the illegal killing of Hen Harriers on grouse moors deserves widespread exposure in the run up to the debate so I’d encourage you to email a copy to your MP, ahead of Monday’s debate, and let them know that this issue matters to you and should be of deep concern to them.
I’m not expecting an immediate change of policy to result from Monday’s debate – that would be naive. And I’m fully expecting the usual sneering and snorting from certain members, especially those with a vested interest in maintaining driven grouse shooting, although a lot of those who behaved so appallingly at the first debate nine years ago will no longer be there.
But what I am interested in is listening to those MPs who can demonstrate any modicum of environmental awareness, ecological understanding and intolerance of wildlife crime. It’ll be those MPs, hopefully from across all parties, who we’ll want to work with in the future because we have no intention of dropping our campaign, no matter which party is in Government in the coming years.
Press release from Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), 25 June 2025:
INVESTIGATION AFTER TESTING CONFIRMS RED KITE POISONED
Police have commenced an investigation after tests confirmed that a red kite which was found dead near Loughbrickland [County Down] had been fatally poisoned.
Testing determined that the legally protected bird of prey bird, which was discovered on land in the Tullymore Road area at the end of December, had died by what’s believed to have been targeted poisoning using the rodenticide Chloralose and the insecticide Bendiocarb.
Superintendent Johnston McDowell, the Police Service lead for Wildlife Crime and Animal Welfare, said: “Red kites, along with all birds of prey, are protected in Northern Ireland under the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985, as amended by the Wildlife and Natural Environment (NI) Act 2011.
“These birds were reintroduced to Northern Ireland in 2008 after being extinct here for centuries, and tragically this is not the first time we have had reports of this nature in this same area. Two ravens were also recently found dead having been poisoned using similar chemicals [Ed: see here], and it saddens me that these incredible birds are being intentionally killed.
“Anyone who finds a dead bird of prey such as a red kite which they suspect to have been poisoned, shot or illegally trapped, or anyone with information about the illegal trade in these birds, should contact police and report their concerns. The poisons used in these most recent incidents are deadly not only to birds and wildlife, but also to humans and as such anyone who comes across the body of any of these birds shouldn’t touch them, but alert the authorities instead.
“PSNI along with Northern Ireland Environment Agency conducted a number of enquiries along with a site visit, and utilised the technical and advisory support of the UK’s National Wildlife Crime Unit throughout the time since the discovery of the Red Kite.
“The Police Service also works closely with our colleagues in the Health and Safety Executive and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to identify poisons being used and where a crime is found to have been committed, we will take steps to identify and prosecute offenders. Those found guilty of persecution of protected birds of prey can face a custodial sentence and/or fines of up to £5,000 per offence.”
The Health and Safety Executive NI, one of the enforcing authorities responsible for Biocidal Product Regulations in Northern Ireland, said: “HSENI, who is one of the enforcing authorities responsible for Biocidal Product Regulations in Northern Ireland said: “Where duty-holders are found to have incorrectly used or have misused biocidal products or continue to use or store biocidal products that have been withdrawn from the market, HSENI will take appropriate enforcement action to achieve compliance. This highlights the importance of responsible use of all chemicals including biocidal products.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs said: “The intentional poisoning wildlife and birds is abhorrent. Supplying, storing (being in possession of) or using a Plant Protection Product (PPP), that has been banned, is an offence. It is also an offence to use an authorised PPP in contravention of the conditions and the specific restrictions established by the authorisation and specified on the product label. If convicted of committing an offence, fines will incur.”
Superintendent McDowell added: “Our Operation Raptor – Peregrine Watch, is an initiative between the PAW Bird of Prey Sub Group and our Air Support Unit, working alongside local police officers, which uses drones to monitor and protect the nesting sites of birds of prey, and is a direct result of birds being targeted, just like in this case, with very serious and dangerous substances in a number of areas across Northern Ireland.
“Along with our partners we will continue to investigate wildlife crime and seek to prevent further instances, whilst bringing offenders to justice.”
Please report wildlife crime by calling 101. A report can also be made online via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/ or you can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at http://crimestoppers-uk.org/. If you have any information on this particular incident please quote incident number 419 24/12/24.
ENDS
Earlier this month representatives from the NI Raptor Study Group, Ulster Wildlife and the RSPB handed in a 50,000-signature petition to Environment Minister Andrew Muir, calling for a ban on the possession of dangerous, raptor-killing poisons (here).
It’s not yet clear what the Minister intends to do, if anything.
If you’re a NI resident and you’re reading this, please consider contacting your local politician and ask them to raise the issue at Stormont – all the Minister has to do is write a list of proscribed poisons and get it added to section 15B of the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985. It really should be very simple.
The most recent summary report of raptor persecution in Northern Ireland (2021-2022, published last year by the NI Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime), shows that illegal poisoning is the most commonly used method of persecution in the country. The report can be read/downloaded here:
Press release from Northern Ireland Raptor Study Group (17 June 2025)
50,000-signature petition, calling for a ban on poison possession, handed into Stormont.
Today (17th June), a petition begun by the Northern Ireland Raptor Study Group (NIRSG), calling for the possession of various toxic pesticides to be made illegal, was handed in to officials at Stormont by representatives of the Group, alongside staff from RSPB NI and Ulster Wildlife.
The eagles died after consuming a bait laced with Bendiocarb, a chemical prohibited from outdoor use in Northern Ireland, and were the latest victims in a series of poisoning incidents here that has claimed the lives of over 60 protected birds of prey in recent years.
The two poisoned White-tailed Eagles found dead on a grouse moor in May 2023. Photo by Northern Ireland Raptor Study Group
NIRSG’s raptor officer, Dr. Eimear Rooney said: “The day we recovered the bodies of those two eagles from the hillside at Glenwherry was one of the most upsetting of my career working with Northern Ireland’s raptors. White-tailed Eagles are only just making a return to our skies after being made extinct on the island of Ireland by past human actions over 100 years ago. But it’s not just eagles that fall victim to the criminals illegally using these poisons – it’s Red Kites, Buzzards and Peregrine Falcons as well as people’s pet cats and dogs.”
Dawn Miskelly, Ulster Wildlife CEO, said “Poisons have devastating impacts on raptor populations. Protecting these birds from poisoning is not just about conserving individual species – it’s about safeguarding and preserving biodiversity for future generations. We urgently call on the Assembly to recognise the significant public concern around this issue and act by resolving to create legislation to make the possession of these toxic pesticides illegal.”
Ian Thomson, RSPB’s Investigations Manager added “Similar legislation in Scotland has led to the successful prosecution of a sizeable number of individuals linked to the illegal poisoning of wildlife. There is no legal reason to hold onto these chemicals, long banned from use, but we repeatedly see Northern Ireland’s birds of prey fall victim to these same substances. Making their possession illegal here will make identifying the perpetrators of these crimes more straightforward, will hopefully create a significant deterrent to the illegal use of poison, and most importantly, will help protect wildlife, domestic pets and people from harm.”
Dr Marc Ruddock, also from NIRSG, continued: “The Wildlife Order already includes legislation banning the possession of pesticides containing a proscribed ingredient, but, in the 14 years since that legislation was passed, lawmakers have never produced the required list of proscribed ingredients. This means that highly toxic poisons such as carbofuran and aldicarb, banned from legal use, are being stored and utilised by those wishing to do harm to our wildlife. It is clear that the intention of the legislature, in passing these laws back in 2011, was for the possession of these awful chemicals to be a crime, but the final step to do so was never completed. It needs to be done, now, with no further delays and recognise the public’s considerable concerns and acts quickly to create a pathway to finally resolve this issue.”
The organisations that attended today at Stormont are all members of the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime and previously met with DAERA officials. They were also able to discuss their concerns with Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Andrew Muir MLA, yesterday.
Dr. Rooney added “Our meeting with the Minster was welcome and constructive, and he acknowledged that the poisoning of our birds of prey is deeply concerning. We are grateful to Minister Muir for meeting us today at Stormont and receiving the petition.”
ENDS
First of all, many thanks to all of you who signed this petition, which reached 50,000 signatures in March this year (see here).
Secondly, well done to the Northern Ireland Raptor Study Group for curating this campaign, supported by the RSPB and Ulster Wildlife. The illegal poisoning of those two White-tailed Eagles, found on Northern Ireland’s only driven grouse moor in May 2023, was both shocking, and yet not shocking. It’s a sad reflection of what we’ve come to expect on many driven grouse moors across the UK.
The groups did well to secure a meeting with Minister Andrew Muir, but it’s surprising to see it described as “constructive”. What does that mean? The Minister was presented with a petition of 50,000 signatures calling for a ban on the possession of these lethal, unlawful chemicals, and he said what, exactly?
‘Oh yeah, thanks, it’s awful isn’t it, let me think about what we can do about it‘?
The remedy is simple, and obvious. Write the list of proscribed poisons and get it added to section 15B of the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985.
It’s not that difficult!
UPDATE 25 June 2025: Police launch investigation after Red Kite killed in poisoning hotspot (here)
UPDATE 6 July 2025: Northern Ireland Minister commits to taking action on illegal poisoning of birds of prey (here)
In April I blogged about Clive Burgoyne, 38, who had pleaded guilty to placing four poisoned baits on the Guynd Estate in Fife in February 2023, which he did in retaliation to try and frame the estate for raptor persecution after the landowner had revoked permission for Burgoyne to shoot on the estate (see here).
Sentencing was deferred until 5 June for reports. Appearing at Forfar Sheriff Court yesterday, Burgoyne was ordered to carry out 135 hours of unpaid work.
That’s a pitiful sentence and won’t act as any sort of deterrent to anyone else thinking of placing poisoned baits in the countryside.
One of the pheasants used as poisoned bait
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has published the following statement following sentencing:
MAN WHO COVERED PHEASANT CARCASSES IN RAT POISON OVER FEUD WITH LANDOWNER SENTENCED
A man who coated pheasant carcasses in rat poison to bait and injure other legally protected wildlife has been ordered to carry out 135 hours of unpaid work.
Clive Burgoyne, 38, of Forfar, carried out the crime as part of an ongoing feud with a local landowner over shooting rights.
He hoped that his actions would cause reputational damage to the landowner’s country estate.
Burgoyne was given the Community Payback Order at Forfar Sheriff Court after he admitted a breach of wildlife legislation between January and February 2023.
Iain Batho, who leads on wildlife and environmental crime for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), said:
“It is highly important to preserve Scotland’s natural heritage, including the wildlife that forms part of it. As such, wild birds are given strict protection by our law.
“Clive Burgoyne’s reckless actions put various wildlife, particularly birds of prey, at risk of injury and death.
“COPFS takes offences under the Wildlife and Countryside Act seriously and will prosecute individuals where there is sufficient evidence of a crime and where it is in the public interest to do so.
“The result in this case is a testament to the collaborative working between COPFS, Police Scotland, and Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA), who in this case were able to provide vital forensic evidence.”
Prosecutors told how witnesses saw Burgoyne in the front passenger seat of a car travelling towards, and later away, from the Guynd estate near Arbroath on the morning of February 3, 2023.
A short time later, an estate worker discovered a dead pheasant on a footpath within the estate.
The breast had been removed and the bird was covered in a quantity of grain and seed which was then coated in a bright blue liquid.
A further search of the area revealed three more dead pheasants nearby which had been similarly cut open and treated.
Analysis carried out by officials at the Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture confirmed the blue grain was an anticoagulant rodenticide formulation containing the active ingredient difenacoum.
They believed the appearance of the pheasant carcases suggested they had been prepared and set out with the intention of causing harm to birds.
Difenacoum is highly toxic to birds and if consumed causes haemorrhaging. A single feed from a baited carcass would prove fatal to a raptor.
The court heard that the dead pheasants had clearly been left out in the open to attract non-target species such as birds of prey.
After being arrested, a sample of Burgoyne’s DNA was found on all four of the dead birds.
ENDS
It’s worth repeating what I wrote after Burgoyne had pleaded guilty in April.
The irony of this case won’t be lost on many of us. Many within the game-shooting industry have long made unsubstantiated allegations that conservationists and animal rights activists have ‘planted evidence’ of poisoned baits in order to frame estates for alleged raptor persecution but as far as I’m aware, none of these claims have ever been proven.
Now that a ‘framing’ case has been proven, it turns out it was a spurned shooter wot dun it, not a conservationist or an animal rights activist. You couldn’t make it up!
Press release from National Parks & Wildlife Service (30 May 2025)
Minister O’Sullivan calls for co-operation in the investigation of the possible poisoning of a white-tailed eagle
The National Parks & Wildlife Service appeals to the public for information
An investigation is underway following the discovery of one of Ireland’s oldest breeding white-tailed eagles, Caimin (Y) who was found dead in Clare last Saturday. Initial post mortem results from the Regional Veterinary Laboratory indicate a possible death from poisoning.
Caimin held territory at the Mountshannon nest site on Lough Derg for the past seventeen years. During that time, he mated and fledged a number of chicks. He was one of the first chicks to arrive as part of an NPWS Reintroduction Programme to bring back this formerly extinct species to Irish skies and was released from Killarney National Park in 2008. All of the white-tailed eagle chicks reintroduced under the programme are fitted with satellite tags, which enables them to be monitored and tracked.
White-tailed Eagle ‘Caimin’. Photo by Bob Foyle
In 2013, Camin mated with Saoirshe, a female eagle who was also part of the Reintroduction Programme. They became the first white-tailed eagles to successfully raise and fledge chicks in the wild in Ireland in over one hundred years. Caimin raised and fledged chicks into the wild until 2016, when Saoirshe died of Avian Influenza. He held the territory and mated again with Bernardine (B) in 2023 to successfully fledge more chicks to the wild from the same nest site in Mountshannon. Despite the loss of her mate, Bernardine is continuing to raise a chick on the nest site in Mountshannon.
Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity, Christopher O’Sullivan said:
“Any loss in the wild not due to natural causes, is usually the result of human activity and this tragic loss of a wonderfully aged bird, breeding happily in the Irish wild, is deeply regrettable.
“The Reintroduction Programme had been making significant progress in restoring this lost flagship species to Irish skies. These birds are part of Ireland’s natural heritage and are important for our biodiversity, as they are a good indicator species regarding the health of our ecosystems.
“We will continue with our efforts to introduce, nurture and protect these birds and I have tasked the NPWS with leaving no stone unturned to try to get to the bottom of this heinous potential crime.”
Eamonn Meskell, Divisional Manager, NPWS said:
“The knowing destruction of this wonderful bird of prey displays a wanton disregard for our re-introduction and nature protection efforts.
“These noble birds are beloved of the public and each loss is keenly felt by them and indeed by the staff of NPWS who have nurtured these birds from chicks to fledglings, onto adult life and into successfully breeding pairs. We know we can rely on the public’s help in this investigation”.
The main threat to the species in Ireland is persecution, predominantly through shooting and the illegal use of poison and wind turbine strikes. The misuse/illegal use of poisons accounts for nearly 50% of eagle deaths where the cause of mortality was able to be determined. Other causes of death include wind turbine strikes, lead shot poisoning and shooting. Avian Influenza and adverse weather also negatively impacted the breeding population.
If you have any information, please notify your local Garda station or your local National Parks and Wildlife Service office.
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 updated to include the three most recently reported victims: a satellite-tagged female called ‘Sita’ who vanished from a roost site on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park on 27 February 2025 (here) and two breeding males who vanished from the RSPB’s Geltsdale Reserve in Cumbria in May 2025 (here).
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 141 hen harriers gone since 2018, and 31 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. **Post mortem reports on a further seven hen harriers found dead in 2024/2025 are awaited. Those seven individuals are not included in this table.
‘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, are, however, ongoing issues with the licence as it’s been significantly watered-down after an intervention from the grouse shooting industry (see here). Work is underway to address this.
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).
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).
5 February 2018: Hen harrier Marc ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Durham (here).
9 February 2018: Hen harrier Aalin ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Wales (here).
March 2018: Hen harrier Blue ‘disappeared’ in the Lake District National Park (here).
March 2018: Hen harrier Finn ‘disappeared’ near Moffat in Scotland (here).
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).
8 August 2018: Hen harrier Hilma ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Northumberland (here).
16 August 2018: Hen harrier Athena ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here).
26 August 2018: Hen Harrier Octavia ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Peak District National Park (here).
29 August 2018: Hen harrier Margot ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here).
29 August 2018: Hen Harrier Heulwen ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Wales (here).
3 September 2018: Hen harrier Stelmaria ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here).
24 September 2018: Hen harrier Heather ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here).
2 October 2018: Hen harrier Mabel ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
3 October 2018: Hen Harrier Thor ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in Bowland, Lanacashire (here).
23 October 2018: Hen harrier Tom ‘disappeared’ in South Wales (here).
26 October 2018: Hen harrier Arthur ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the North York Moors National Park (here).
1 November 2018: Hen harrier Barney ‘disappeared’ on Bodmin Moor (here).
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).
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).
16 January 2019: Hen harrier Vulcan ‘disappeared’ in Wiltshire close to Natural England’s proposed reintroduction site (here).
28 January 2019: Hen harrier DeeCee ‘disappeared’ in Glen Esk, a grouse moor area of the Angus Glens (see here).
7 February 2019: Hen harrier Skylar ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in South Lanarkshire (here).
22 April 2019: Hen harrier Marci ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here).
26 April 2019: Hen harrier Rain ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Nairnshire (here).
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).
11 September 2019: Hen harrier Romario ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here).
14 September 2019: Hen harrier (Brood meddled in 2019, #183704) ‘disappeared’ in the North Pennines (here).
23 September 2019: Hen harrier (Brood meddled in 2019, #55149) ‘disappeared’ in North Pennines (here).
24 September 2019: Wildland Hen Harrier 2 ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor at Invercauld in the Cairngorms National Park (here).
24 September 2019: Hen harrier Bronwyn ‘disappeared’ near a grouse moor in North Wales (here).
10 October 2019: Hen harrier Ada ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the North Pennines AONB (here).
12 October 2019: Hen harrier Thistle ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Sutherland (here).
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).
November 2019: Hen harrier Artemis ‘disappeared’ near Long Formacus in south Scotland (RSPB pers comm).
14 December 2019: Hen harrier Oscar ‘disappeared’ in Eskdalemuir, south Scotland (here).
December 2019: Hen harrier Ingmar ‘disappeared’ in the Strathbraan grouse moor area of Perthshire (RSPB pers comm).
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).
23 March 2020: Hen harrier Rosie ‘disappeared’ at an undisclosed roost site in Northumberland (here).
1 April 2020: Hen harrier (Brood meddled in 2019, #183703) ‘disappeared’ in unnamed location, tag intermittent (here).
5 April 2020: Hen harrier Hoolie ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here)
8 April 2020: Hen harrier Marlin ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here).
19 May 2020: Hen harrier Fingal ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Lowther Hills, Scotland (here).
21 May 2020: Hen harrier (Brood meddled in 2019, #183701) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Cumbria shortly after returning from wintering in France (here).
27 May 2020: Hen harrier Silver ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor on Leadhills Estate, Scotland (here).
2020: day/month unknown: Unnamed male hen harrier breeding on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve, Cumbria ‘disappeared’ while away hunting (here).
9 July 2020: Unnamed female hen harrier (#201118) ‘disappeared’ from an undisclosed site in Northumberland (here).
25 July 2020: Hen harrier Harriet ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
14 August 2020: Hen harrier Solo ‘disappeared’ in confidential nest area in Lancashire (here).
7 September 2020: Hen harrier Dryad ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
16 September 2020: Hen harrier Fortune ‘disappeared’ from an undisclosed roost site in Northumberland (here).
19 September 2020: Hen harrier Harold ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
20 September 2020: Hen harrier (Brood meddled in 2020, #55152) ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in North Yorkshire (here).
24 February 2021: Hen harrier Tarras ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in Northumberland (here)
12th April 2021: Hen harrier Yarrow ‘disappeared’ near Stockton, County Durham (here).
18 May 2021: Adult male hen harrier ‘disappeared’ from its breeding attempt on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve, Cumbria whilst away hunting (here).
18 May 2021: Another adult male hen harrier ‘disappeared’ from its breeding attempt on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve, Cumbria whilst away hunting (here).
24 July 2021: Hen harrier Asta ‘disappeared’ at a ‘confidential site’ in the North Pennines (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).
14th August 2021: Hen harrier Josephine ‘disappeared’ at a ‘confidential site’ in Northumberland (here).
17 September 2021: Hen harrier Reiver ‘disappeared’ in a grouse moor dominated region of Northumberland (here)
24 September 2021: Hen harrier (Brood meddled in 2021, R2-F-1-21) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here).
15 November 2021: Hen harrier (brood meddled in 2020, #R2-F1-20) ‘disappeared’ at the edge of a grouse moor on Arkengarthdale Estate in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
19 November 2021: Hen harrier Val ‘disappeared’ in the Lake District National Park in Cumbria (here).
19 November 2021: Hen harrier Percy ‘disappeared’ in Lothian, Scotland (here).
12 December 2021: Hen harrier Jasmine ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (High Rigg Moor on the Middlesmoor Estate) in the Nidderdale AONB in North Yorkshire (here).
9 January 2022: Hen harrier Ethel ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here).
26 January 2022: Hen harrier Amelia ‘disappeared’ in Bowland (here).
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).
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 leg had also been torn off whilst he was still alive (here).
April 2022: Hen harrier ‘Pegasus’ (tagged by the RSPB) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor at Birkdale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
May 2022: A male breeding hen harrier ‘disappeared’ from a National Trust-owned grouse moor in the Peak District National Park (here).
May 2022: Another breeding male hen harrier ‘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’ from a ‘confidential site’ in the North Pennines (here).
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 (brood meddled in 2022, #R1-M1-22) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
September 2022: Hen harrier ‘Sullis’ (tagged by the RSPB) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Cumbria (here).
5 October 2022: Hen harrier (brood meddled in 2022, #R3-M2-22) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
10 October 2022: Hen harrier ‘Sia’ ‘disappeared’ near Hamsterley Forest in the North Pennines (here).
October 2022: Hen harrier (brood meddled in 2021, #R1-F1-21) ‘disappeared’ in the North Sea off the North York Moors National Park (here).
1 December 2022: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2021, #R1-M1-21) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
7 December 2022: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2020, #R2-F2-20) ‘disappeared’ from winter roost (same as #R3-F1-22) on moorland in North Pennines AONB (here). Later found dead with 3 shotgun pellets in corpse.
14 December 2022: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2022, #R3-F1-22) ‘disappeared’ from winter roost (same as #R2-F2-20) on moorland in the North Pennines AONB (here). Later found dead with two shotgun pellets in corpse.
15 December 2022: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2022, #R2-F1-22) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
30 March 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2022, #R1-F3-22) ‘disappeared’ in Yorkshire (here). Notes from NE Sept 2023 spreadsheet update: “Final transmission location temporarily withheld at police request“.
1 April 2023: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2022, #R2-M1-22) ‘disappeared’ in Yorkshire (here). Notes from NE Sept 2023 spreadsheet update: “Final transmission location temporarily withheld at police request“.
April 2023: Hen harrier ‘Lagertha’ (tagged by RSPB) ‘disappeared’ in North Yorkshire (here).
April 2023: Hen harrier ‘Nicola’ (Tag ID 234078) ”disappeared’ in North Yorkshire (here).
April 2023: Untagged male hen harrier ‘disappeared’ from an active nest on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve in Cumbria (here).
April 2023: Another untagged male hen harrier ‘disappeared’ from an active nest on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve in Cumbria (here).
April 2023: Untagged male hen harrier ‘disappeared’ from an active nest in Durham (here).
4/5 May 2023: Satellite-tagged male hen harrier called ‘Rush’ ‘disappeared’ from a grouse moor in Bowland AONB in Lancashire (here).
9/10 May 2023: Hen harrier male called ‘Dagda’, tagged by the RSPB in Lancashire in June 2022 and who was breeding on the RSPB’s Geltsdale Reserve in 2023 until he ‘vanished’, only to be found dead on the neighbouring Knarsdale grouse moor in May 2023 – a post mortem revealed he had been shot (here).
17 May 2023: Satellite-tagged hen harrier called ‘Wayland’ ‘disappeared’ in the Clapham area of North Yorkshire, just north of the Bowland AONB (here).
31 May 2023: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2022, tag #213932, name: R2-M3-22) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (grid ref: NY765687) (here).
11 June 2023: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2021, tag #213922, name: R2-M1-21) ‘disappeared’ at a confidential site in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Notes from the NE spreadsheet: “Final transmission location temporarily withheld at police request“ (here).
12 June 2023: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2020, tag #203004, name: R1-M2-20) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Co. Durham (grid ref: NY976322) (here).
6 July 2023: Satellite-tagged female hen harrier named ‘Rubi’ (tag #201124a) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Co. Durham (grid ref: NY911151) (here).
23 July 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2023, tag #55154a, name: R1-F1-23) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Co. Durham (close to where ‘Rubi’ vanished), grid ref: NY910126 (here).
29 July 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2020, tag #55144, name: R2-F2-20) ‘disappeared’ at a confidential site in the North Pennines. Notes from the NE spreadsheet: “Dead. Recovered – awaiting PM results. Final transmission location temporarily withheld at police request“ (here).
9 August 2023: Satellite-tagged hen harrier called ‘Martha’ ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (Westburnhope Moor) near Hexham in the North Pennines (here).
11 August 2023: Satellite-tagged hen harrier called ‘Selena’ ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (Mossdale Moor) in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
11 August 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2023, tag #201118a, name: R3-F1-23) ‘disappeared’ in Co. Durham (grid ref: NZ072136) (here).
15 August 2023: Satellite-tagged hen harrier called ‘Hepit’ ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (Birkdale Common) near Kirkby Stephen in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
24 August 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2023, tag #55155a, name: R1-F2-23) ‘disappeared’ at a confidential site in Northumberland. Notes from the NE spreadsheet: “Final transmission location temporarily withheld at police request“ (here).
August-Sept 2023: Satellite-tagged hen harrier called ‘Harmonia’ ‘disappeared’ in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
September 2023: Hen harrier female ‘Saranyu’, tagged by the RSPB in Cumbria in June 2023, ‘disappeared’ in Durham in September 2023 (no further details available yet – just outline info provided in 2022 Birdcrime report) (here).
September 2023: Hen harrier female ‘Inger’, a female tagged by the RSPB in Perthshire in July 2022, ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Angus Glens in September 2023 (here).
15 September 2023: Hen harrier male called ‘Rhys’, tagged in Cumbria on 1st August 2023, ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Grid ref: SD798896 (here).
24 September 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2023, name: ‘R2-F2-23’) ‘disappeared’ in the North Pennines, grid ref: NY888062 (here).
25 September 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2022, name: ‘R1-F4-22’) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, grid ref: SE077699 (here).
26 September 2023: Hen harrier female called ‘Hope’, tagged in Cumbria on 21 July 2023, ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, grid ref: SD801926 (here).
4 October 2023: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2020, name: ‘R1-M3-20’) ‘disappeared’ in Co Durham, grid ref: NY935192 (here).
4 October 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2023, name: ‘R4-F1-23’) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, grid ref: SE003981 (here).
14 October 2023: Hen harrier male called ‘Cillian’, tagged in Cumbria on 1 August 2023, ‘disappeared’ in south west Scotland, grid ref: NY051946 (here).
15 November 2023: Hen harrier female called ‘Hazel’, tagged in Cumbria on 21 July 2023, ‘disappeared’ on the Isle of Man, grid ref: SC251803 (here).
27 November 2023: Hen harrier female called ‘Gill’, tagged in Northumberland on 10 July 2023, ‘disappeared’ at a confidential location in Teeside (here).
12 February 2024: Hen harrier female called ‘Susie’, Tag ID 201122, found dead at a confidential location in Northumberland and the subject of an ongoing police investigation (here).
15 February 2024: Hen harrier female called ‘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).
7 March 2024: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2023, name R2-M1-23) found dead in Devon. According to an FoI response from Natural England in June 2024 this death is the subject of an ongoing police investigation (here).
24 April 2024: Hen harrier male called ‘Ken’, Tag ID 213849a, ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances close to a grouse moor in Bowland, grid ref SD 684601 (here).
17 May 2024: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2023, name R2-M2-23) ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances next to Middlesmoor grouse moor in Nidderdale, grid ref SE043754 (here).
25 June 2024: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2023, name R2-F1-23) ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances on a grouse moor in Yorkshire Dales National Park, grid ref NY985082 (here).
July 2024: Hen harrier female named ‘Helius’ satellite tagged by the RSPB ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances in Bowland (here).
October 2024: An un-tagged hen harrier was seemingly shot on a grouse moor by one of three gamekeepers being secretly filmed by the RSPB (here).
1 October 2024: Hen harrier female named ‘Dreich’, Tag ID: 254842, ‘disappeared’ in Lanarkshire. Listed by NE as ‘Missing Fate Unknown, site confidential – ongoing investigation‘ (here).
15 October 2024: Hen harrier male named ‘Baldur’, Tag ID: 240291, ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland. Listed by NE as ‘Missing Fate Unknown, site confidential – ongoing investigation‘ (here).
19 October 2024: Hen harrier female named ‘Margaret’, Tag ID: 254844, ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland. Listed by NE as ‘Missing Fate Unknown, site confidential – ongoing investigation‘ (here).
12 January 2025: Hen harrier female named ‘Dina’, Tag ID: 254837, ‘disappeared’ near a grouse moor in the Lammermuirs, south Scotland (grid ref: NT 681512). Listed by NE as ‘Missing Fate Unknown’ (here).
15 January 2025: Hen harrier female named ‘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).
3 February 2025: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2022, name R3-F2-22) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the North York Moors National Park. Listed by NE as ‘Missing Fate Unknown’ (here).
27 February 2025: Hen harrier female named ‘Sita’, satellite-tagged on behalf of Hen Harrier Action in Bowland in 2024 and tracked by the RSPB, ‘disappeared’ from a roost site on an unnamed grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
4 April 2025: Hen harrier female named ‘Bonnie’, Tag ID: 254841, ‘disappeared’ in Scotland. Listed by NE as ‘Missing Fate Unknown. Site confidential – ongoing investigation’ (here).
10 April 2025: Hen harrier female named ‘Gill’, Tag ID: 240294, ‘disappeared’ in Scotland. Listed by NE as ‘Missing Fate Unknown. Site confidential – ongoing investigation’ (here).
May 2025: Male hen harrier (with 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 male hen harrier (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).
To be continued…….
Of these 141 incidents, only one has resulted in an arrest and a subsequent prosecution (ongoing – gamekeeper due in court in September 2025, 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 ONE 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) 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 33 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).
Wild Justice has launched another petition calling for a ban on driven grouse shooting. This latest petition is intended to gauge the view of the new Labour Government, as previous petitions were all lodged under the Conservative Government with its well-documented vested interests. Labour issued an appallingly pathetic interim response to the petition, via DEFRA, in January 2025 after the petition had reached 10,000 signatures, and indicated it had no intention of banning driven grouse shooting (see here).
The petition is live until 22 May 2025. It has already passed the 100,000 signature threshold required to qualify for a debate in Westminster Hall and a date has just been set (announcement due tomorrow) so we’ll see how on earth the Government is going to defend the status quo.
Conservation campaign group Wild Justice has provided an update on how its Raptor Forensics Fund has helped UK police forces investigate suspected crimes against birds of prey.
The fund was established in 2020 to cover the costs of early-stage investigations where there is a suspicion of a crime but insufficient evidence to meet the criteria required to submit a carcass for tests in a Government-funded lab.
Police officers have immediate access to the fund to prevent any delay in progressing a case and typically it covers costs such as x-rays and post-mortems. If a crime is then confirmed, officers can apply for further funds to cover costs such as DNA work or other specialist work. If a case results in a conviction, an application is made to the court to recover the costs and these are returned to the forensic fund.
Photo by Ruth Tingay
The fund is administered by the PAW Forensic Working Group (a sub-group of the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime) and is open to any regional or national statutory agency in the UK. For further details please visit the PAW Forensic Working Group website here.
Additional funding support has been provided by The Northern England Raptor Forum, Tayside & Fife Raptor Study Group, Devon Birds, Rare Bird Alert and a number of individuals who wish to remain anonymous.
Since being established in 2020, the fund has supported 68 police investigations and has been used to pay for 43 post mortems, 29 x-rays, one CT scan and two DNA profilings.
Some of those 68 investigations have now ended, either because, for example, there wasn’t any evidence of criminality, or there was some evidence but it was insufficient to meet the criminal threshold, or because no suspects were identified, or because the carcass tested positive for avian influenza which prevented any further analysis. Some investigations are on-going.
Eight investigations have so far resulted in prosecutions and subsequent convictions. Seven of the eight convictions involved gamekeepers on Pheasant shoots. You can read the details here.
Brian Chorlton, aged 87, of Morkery Lane, Castle Bytham appeared at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court yesterday (8 May 2025) to answer 11 charges relating to the unapproved or unlawful storage of the chemical Aldicarb, possession of a poisoners kit, and possession and use of four pole traps.
These charges are a result of a police investigation in to reports that birds of prey were being poisoned in the Castle Bytham area.
Mr Chorlton pleaded not guilty to all 11 charges and this case will now proceed to trial, scheduled for October 2025.
NB: Comments are turned off as this case is live.
Photo by Ruth Tingay
UPDATE 26 September 2025: Trial of 87-year-old man accused of 11 offences relating to raptor persecution is put on hold as defence applies for Judicial Review of judge’s ruling (here)
Raptor Persecution UK 