Tag: poisoning

A recent history of golden eagle persecution in Scotland

Two years ago in July 2009, Alma, a two-year golden eagle who had been satellite-tracked across Scotland from her birth place on the Glenfeshie Estate, was found dead. She was discovered lying face-down in the heather on Millden Estate, Angus and later tests showed she had been poisoned by the banned pesticide Carbofuran.

The police conducted a search of Millden Estate and the local community responded with anger to Alma’s death. They wrote letters of concern to the local estates, the Environment Minister and the Chairman of Scottish Natural Heritage. On the second anniversary of her death, has anybody been brought to justice for killing her? Not that we know of.

Alma’s death is not a stand alone case, as we are all too aware. Prior to her killing in 2009, 17 golden eagles were confirmed victims of shooting, trapping or nest destruction in Scotland, between 1989 and 2009, according to this RSPB report. In addition, in the same report a further 24 golden eagles were confirmed victims of illegal poisoning in Scotland during the same period, including Alma.

The killing didn’t end with Alma. Since her death in 2009, a further 5 golden eagles have been confirmed killed – four of them last year (3 of them at Skibo Estate and one on an un-named grouse moor near Inverness ) and at least one known death so far this year, on North Glenbuchat Estate. That makes a total of 46. And these are only the ones we know about. There are other suspicious incidents, such as the four golden eagle leg rings reported to have been found in 2010 in the possession of convicted gamekeeper James Rolfe of the Moy Estate. As this report points out, these rings were originally fitted to golden eagle chicks prior to their fledging from nests in Sutherland, Grampian, Mull and Skye. These rings must have been removed from the dead eagles but how they came to be in Rolfe’s possession is unclear.

Add these four to the grand total and you get a minimum of 50 golden eagles illegally persecuted in Scotland since 1989. Nobody has ever been convicted for any of these reported crimes.

Man arrested & bailed for kite deaths in Cumbria – guns & poisons seized

A man has been arrested and bailed over the illegal killing of red kites in Cumbria. At least three kites are known to have been illegally killed since the reintroduction project began in August 2010. Two were shot (see reports here and here) and one was poisoned (see here).

The arrest followed a police raid on a farm (currently un-named) in the Ulverston area on Tuesday, during which a number of firearms and illegally held poisons were seized.

A Cumbria Police spokesman said the man was arrested on suspicion of intentionally killing a protected wild bird and on suspicion of poisoning and firearms offences. According to the Westmorland Gazette, the man has been released without charge and bailed until July 21st.

More on this news story here, here and here

Head gamekeeper jailed for cannabis factory on sporting estate but not charged for poisoned buzzard

In April 2010, we reported on the conviction of 26 year old gamekeeper Ben Walker, who was found guilty of 17 offences relating to the killing of protected species with poisonous baits on the Sufton Estate in Herefordshire in late 2009 (report here). During the police investigation into the alleged criminal activities on this sporting estate, it is reported that a poisoned buzzard was found in an outbuilding used by his boss, head gamekeeper Mark Rigby. As usual, it was not possible to ascertain who was responsible for the death of this bird – even though it might appear obvious. There are no reports of either keeper being charged for possession of the poisoned bird. However, a search of an adjacent outbuilding uncovered what has been described as ‘a large cannabis cultivation operation’. It seems it was not so difficult to establish the identity of the guilty party in this instance, because, according to the RSPB, at Worcester Crown Court on 24 November 2010 head gamekeeper Mark Rigby pleaded guilty to four counts of producing and possessing a Class B drug with intent to sell and he was imprisoned for two years.

The conviction of Rigby is reported in the latest issue of Legal Eagle, the RSPB’s investigations newsletter, here.

Fund-raising sky dive by OneKind investigator – please support him!

We have received the following message from a member of the  investigations team at the Scottish charity OneKind. You may recall OneKind was instrumental in catching criminal gamekeeper Lewis Whitham placing a poisoned bait on Leadhills Estate last year. ‘Steve’ is undertaking a charity sky dive at the end of August to raise funds for field equipment and also to raise awareness about the on-going illegal raptor persecution in this country. Please support him!

“Hi, Thank you for this valuable site. Nothing compares to it on the web and is a reminder, if ever some of us need it, to the true and serious problem that we have in Scotland as to the persecution of birds of prey. My investigations and research over recent years has lead me to areas of Scotland where I have not only come across poisoned and shot raptors, but I have even witnessed a gamekeeper setting out carbofurin onto a rabbit in an area where raptors fly.

At every opportunity we must remind the general public that reports of incidents involving raptor persecution are only the tip of the iceburg. Crimes against birds of prey are almost always carried out in isolated areas where the public rarely walk and it is often only chance that these poisoned or shot birds are discovered. For every raptor I hear killed then I times that by ten for those that the perpetrator of these serious crimes takes away, burns, buries or are lost amongst the heather or within the woodlands.

At the end of August I am doing a fund raising skydive to raise funds for the investigations department at the Edinburgh animal charity OneKind and also to highlight the serious problems that we have in Scotland of raptor persecution. Please could I use this opportunity to give you the link to my skydive fund raising page. Anything that people could donate would go directly to obtain equipment to help me keep one step ahead of those that I investigate. Many thanks“.

Please sponsor ‘Steve’ here and read about the equipment he hopes your sponsorship money will buy.

Mull’s sea eagles bring in £5 million per year to local economy

We often hear from the grouse-shooting crowd about the economic value of their ‘sport’, and they use this argument a lot to justify their demands to be allowed to kill protected raptors. What they don’t seem to understand is (a) the general public’s fondness for our magnificent birds of prey and (b) what a financial trick they’re missing by not buying in to this public interest and providing raptor-viewing facilities and associated activities.

A new report has just revealed how the economic benefits delivered by the Isle of Mull’s white-tailed eagle project has tripled in just five years. These eagles bring in at least £5 million to the local economy every year, up from £1.4 million in 2005, according to an independent study by the Progressive Partnership. In addition, tourism generated by the birds supports the equivalent of 110 full-time jobs. The calculations were based on a survey of more than 1,200 people who visited the island in 2010. Almost a quarter of them said the eagles were an important factor in them choosing Mull as a destination.

The Scottish government has estimated that wildlife tourism is now worth £276 million per year to the country’s economy, supporting 2,763 jobs in the sector.

Interesting. Do you think these wildlife tourists would be happier to visit Scottish estates where raptors have been found poisoned, or Scottish estates known to be proactively involved with raptor conservation?

BBC news story here

Suspected poisoning of buzzard found dead in Wester Ross

According to the Ross-shire Journal 20 May 2011, Northern Constabulary are investigating the possible poisoning of a buzzard found dead in May. Discovered by a dog-walker near Dundonnell, Wester Ross on 14 May 2011, the carcass was covered in dead insects. Dead insects on a carcass are often an indication of the presence of a poisonous substance. The buzzard has been sent for toxic analysis.

Thanks to the contributor who sent this in.

Poisoned golden eagle at Glen Orchy – two years on…

Two years ago today, this dead golden eagle was discovered by hill walkers in Glen Orchy, Argyll. Government tests later showed it had been poisoned by the illegal pesticide Carbofuran. This poisoning incident made the national press (e.g. here).

Several days later, a multi-agency search was conducted in and around Glen Orchy. The police-led operation included the Oban Community Policing Team, specialist wildlife crime officers from three police forces (Strathclyde, Lothian & Borders and Central), experts from the National Wildlife Crime Unit, pesticide experts from the Scottish Government and representatives from the RSPB and Scottish SPCA. The police said afterwards that they were following a positive line of inquiry.

Meanwhile, during the police search two handguns were found in gamekeeper Tom McKellar’s loft. Eighteen months later in December 2010, McKellar was convicted at the High Court in Glasgow for having prohibited weapons. However, he avoided the usual mandatory five year custodial sentence and instead received 300 hours community service. Story here

So what happened to that ‘positive line of inquiry’ in the eagle poisoning investigation? Good question.

Bird boycott

Here is a letter that was published in today’s edition of The Scotsman:

“I recently had another holiday in Scotland – my third visit this year – principally to do bird and wildlife watching.

Like many others I have always wanted to go bird watching in Malta and Cyprus, but have boycotted these islands on principal because of their hunting and persecution of birds.

On each visit to Scotland I learn of more illegal poisoning and persecution of raptors – including a major tourist attraction, the iconic golden eagle.

I am beginning to think that my patronage of your tourist industry is somewhat hypocritical in view of my stance on the European countries I mentioned.

It appears that wildlife crime detection is grossly underfunded and that penalties are woefully inadequate.

What good is a fine of a few thousand pounds to a gamekeeper whose multi-millionaire lord and master will pay the fine anyway?

I think a universal boycott by wildlide enthusiasts would be damaging to the economies of Scotland, and I implore the Scottish Government to make a concerted effort to stamp out these crimes.”

P. Bateson, Halifax.

The Scotsman letter here

‘Unfair to accuse gamekeepers of wildlife crime’, says gamekeeper Alex

In an article published in The Courier on 30 May 2011, Ian Thomson, an investigator for the RSPB, expressed his concern about the high number of wild birds illegally killed in Tayside. 14 incidents were recorded there between March 2010 and March 2011.  In the same article, it is reported that PC Bryan Prestwood, a wildlife crime officer based in Angus, ‘believes the biggest problem is with gamekeepers and land managers’. Full article here

In an angry response published on 6 June 2011, Alex Hogg suggested it was ‘unfair to accuse gamekeepers of wildlife crime’. His letter here

I think people will make up their own minds Alex, based on the factual evidence and government statistics. You’ve even said yourself, on many occasions, that if gamekeepers were to be given licences to kill protected raptors then illegal raptor poisoning would stop. This notion was also repeated last week by David Hendry of Cardney Estate in his BBC 2 Landward interview. Quite a strange prophecy from a ‘profession’ that claims not to be involved with wildlife crime, don’t you think?

For those still in any doubt whether some gamekeepers are involved in willdife crime, and specifically raptor persecution, here’s a link to a piece we wrote on the issue last year, including some revealing statistics provided by the RSPB. Here’s a link to another piece we wrote last year, with the most recently-published RSPB statistics. These show clearly that 85% of people who were convicted of illegally killing birds of prey between 2003-2008 were gamekeepers!

Young red kite poisoned in Cumbria

Cumbria Police are investigating the posioning of a red kite – the third kite to be killed in the region since a re-introduction project began last August.

The first dead kite from the project was shot dead in Dentdale in September 2010. The second dead kite had been killed by a shotgun wound in the Grizedale area, found under its roost tree on April 20 2011. The latest reported dead kite was discovered in January 2011 near Esthwaite Water, Hawkshead. Toxicology results have now confirmed this bird had been poisoned.

News story here