Tag: red kite

Police raid at Moy Estate, Inverness after raptors found dead

Police have conducted a raid on the Moy Estate, near Inverness, following the recent discovery of poisoned bait and dead raptors. The RSPB has been undertaking surveillance for several weeks at the estate after a dead grouse was found to have been used as a poisoned bait. This culminated in today’s police raid, where evidence (believed to include dead birds) has been removed for further investigation and toxicology tests. No arrests have been made as yet.

The 25,000 acre Moy Estate is a well-known grouse-shooting estate, and, rather embarrassingly, was one of the signatories of the recent letter to the government from numerous sporting estates who claimed to condemn raptor poisoning. Two people from Moy Estate signed the letter – Victor Beamish is the 19th signatory, and Estate owner Celia Mackintosh is the 143rd signatory. Click here to view that letter:  SRPBA LETTER MAY 2010

Yet another instance demonstrating the worthlessness of that letter. Well done Moy Estate, you have earned a place in our Named Estates directory. I can’t wait to hear what the SRPBA, SEBG and SGA have to say about this. I expect that Moy Estate will be expelled from all three groups, and that all three groups will also boycott the forthcoming Moy Field Sports Fair, being held on Moy Estate on 6th & 7th August 2010. You don’t think so? No, me neither, but if these three organisations wish to be taken seriously, they will stick to their previous promises and demonstrate their ‘condemnation’ of the illegal raptor persecution activities apparently uncovered at Moy Estate.

Full news story about the police raid: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/10224789.stm

And here: http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1767321?UserKey=

UPDATE: A quote from SRPBA Chief Executive Douglas McAdam about this incident, “We do not yet know the full facts of this case. We are appalled none the less at what appears to be yet further illegal persecution against Scotland’s wildlife, but we do need to await the outcome of the legal process to determine where guilt lies“. http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/scotland/Children-tracking–red-kite.6340484.jp

Douglas, I don’t think you need to be Inspector Clouseau to work this one out!

red kite blasted with shotgun finally released

In December 2009, a walker found an injured red kite in Braco, Perthshire. X-rays revealed it had been blasted with a shotgun, five times,  from close range. The kite’s injuries were horrific and it was feared the bird would not survive (see the post on this blog from 3 March 2010). No arrests were made.

The kite ready for release

Six months later, after extensive treatment and care provided by the SSPCA, the rehabilitated kite was released back to the wild yesterday. Congratulations to all involved with this bird’s recovery.

News story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/10215466.stm

spate of recent poisonings kills eagles, kites, buzzards & peregrine

One of the dead white-tailed sea eagles undergoing post mortem

A disgraceful spate of recent poisonings in Ireland has resulted in the death of 2 white-tailed sea eagles, 1 golden eagle, 3 red kites, 3 buzzards and a peregrine.

The sea eagles were poisoned by the illegal pesticide carbofuran. The golden eagle, kites, buzzards and peregrine were killed by alphachloralose, a pesticide still manufactured and legally available in Ireland.

Police investigations are underway.

For the full sorry story: http://www.goldeneagle.ie/news_viewnews.php?x=6&z=132&news_id=11&article=267

scotland’s red kites under threat from illegal killing

The red kite population in Scotland is under severe threat from illegal poisoning a new RSPB study has revealed.

An equal number of red kites were released in the Chiltern Hills in southern England and in The Black Isle near Inverness as part of a reintroduction project which began in 1989

The birds in the Chiltern Hills have flourished and numbers of breeding pairs had reached 320 pairs by 2006. In stark contrast the Black Isle birds have struggled to establish a viable breeding population and had only reached 46 pairs over the same period. Both populations of red kites have been closely monitored and productivity from successful nests in both studies were found to be similar and amongst the highest in Europe.

Red kites are mainly scavengers and their diet of carrion makes them extremely vulnerable to illegal poisoning. Although they pose absolutely no threat to game shooting interests they are all too often killed by gamekeepers illegally targeting other species.

Between 1989 and 2009, 64 red kites have been found poisoned in Scotland. Naturally considering the remote locations where these birds live, only a small proportion of poisoned birds will ever have been found.

Scottish Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham said,

“Poisoning is an arbitrary method of killing which poses serious risks to other wildlife, and potentially people, in our countryside.

“The protection of Scotland’s wildlife has never before occupied such a prominent position politically or in terms of the law. I hope that our continued joint action to tackle raptor persecution across Scotland will reduce this threat to red kites.”

With sentences such as we have recently seen in the Redmyre Estate case, where gamekeeper Graham Barclay Kerr was fined a derisory £400 for shooting a buzzard with a high velocity rifle and admonished for possession of illegal and deadly poisons I don’t think Roseanna’s words will have the perpetrators of these crimes quaking in their plus fours.

Full story. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/8629284.stm

Call to control poison in Ireland after more red kite deaths

Another poisoned red kite

Pressure to control the poison Alphachloralose, available over the counter in Ireland, is intensifying following the poisoning of two more red kites in County Wicklow. The young birds were part of an Irish reintroduction project and had only been released in July 2009.

Alphachloralose has been used to kill red kites, golden eagles and white-tailed eagles across Ireland in recent years. The Golden Eagle Trust, a local NGO attempting to re-introduce all three species back to ireland, have lodged a formal complaint with the European Commission over the State’s failure to protect the birds.

Full story: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0329/1224267276974.html

Golden Eagle Trust website: http://www.goldeneagle.ie/

Red kite death being investigated by North Yorkshire police

Dead red kite

Police are investigating the death of a red kite found in North Yorkshire last week, amid concerns that it may have been poisoned. The kite was found by a farmer in a field and police have now organised for toxicology tests to be conducted.

The kite was found in an area where numerous poisoning incidents have taken place.

More on this story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/8582433.stm

shooting times magazine names the countryside’s “most wanted pests”

Game shooting’s top magazine, The Shooting Times, has published an article on the countryside’s “most wanted pests”, which speaks volumes on the true attitude of the game shooting industry to our protected wildlife.

The Shooting Times, 6th February 2006 reports,  The golden eagle, red kite, osprey, heron, peregrine falcon and buzzard stand accused with the hedgehog, otter, badger and the domestic cat of being “voracious predators” that affect the game shooting and fishing industries.

The 114-year-old title describes the animals on its list as “pricey pests” that devour pheasant, partridge, grouse, salmon, trout, hare, pigeon, woodcock, snipe, duck, goose and deer or snatch wild birds’ eggs. The losses hit the profits of estate owners and shooting and fishing syndicates.

Jim Knight, the Rural Affairs Minister, joined animal welfare groups and the Countryside Alliance in criticising the magazine for vilifying wildlife. He was shocked by the article’s emotive language. “The list includes a number of precious species that are protected by law. Readers of this article may agree that some species can be a nuisance — but this does not excuse their destruction.”

Camilla Clark, editor of Shooting Times, said: “The purpose was to assess the economic impact of predators and pests on game birds in the UK. Shooting Times would never advocate the illegal killing of a protected species.”

give credit where it’s due: gamekeeper saves kite on craigiehowe mains shooting estate, ross-shire

An all-too rare example of a good gamekeeper came to light in August 2009, when a red kite was rescued by keeper Bob Colyer on the Craigiehowe Mains shooting estate on the Black Isle, Ross-shire.

The recently-fledged young bird, called ‘H’, had crashed into the side of a pheasant-rearing pen and had become entangled in the netting when Bob found him. After carefully removing him, ‘H’ was given a night’s recuperation with the local SSPCA before being released the next day, with no obvious signs of injury.

Bob said: “The kite was looking very sorry for itself when I found it and didn’t seem grateful to be rescued. However, I’m delighted to have been able to help and even more pleased to hear that it has been able to take to the air once more”.

Well done Bob!

Full story: http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/birdsofprey/Unlikely-hero-saves-bird-of.5565759.jp

Red kites poisoned in Callander, Perthshire

A young male red kite found dead by the side of the road in Callander, Perthshire, in July 2007 had been illegally posioned. Sadly, it wasn’t an isolated incident. A few weeks earlier, two red kite chicks had been found closeby. Tests revealed that one chick had definitely been poisoned; the body of the 2nd chick was too decomposed for analysis. The chicks were unrelated to the dead adult kite.

http://www.centralscotland.police.uk/localpolicing/stirling_dunblane_lochearnhead.php?news_id=3568

“Map of Shame” doesn’t say anything new

Map of Shame 2004-2008

In January 2009, the Scottish government released its ‘Map of Shame’ showing confirmed poisoning incidents between 2004-2008. The map, using data from the Scottish Agricultural Science Agency (SASA), was hailed as a “significant step” in the fight against wildlife crime as it showed the scale of raptor persecution.

In reality, the map doesn’t tell us anything new at all. The RSPB has been producing these maps for years; the difference with this one is that for the first time, the Scottish Rural Property & Business Association (SRPBA) which represents landowners, agreed to its contents.

The map locates 88 incidents in which raptors were poisoned over the previous 5 years, including iconic species such as the golden eagle, white-tailed sea eagle, red kite, buzzard, tawny owl and peregrine.

http://news.scotsman.com/birdsofprey/Bird-of-prey-poisoning-map.4864489.jp

What the map fails to tell us is the name of the shooting estates involved. What is the point of providing such a vague map? There is no point, other than to confirm what was already known – raptor persecution incidents are widespread across Scotland. If the SRPBA is as committed to stamping out wildlife crime as it claims it is, why wouldn’t it take every opportunity to name and shame those known to be involved?

It is not just wildlife-interest groups that are asking for the estates to be named. In September 2009, MSP Sarah Boyack (Scottish Labour) called for the government to name and shame the offending estates and said taking steps to reduce the number of incidents of wild raptors being shot and poisoned was a “matter of urgency”. http://news.stv.tv/scotland/121040-msp-name-and-shame-bird-killers/

The government is due to release the official 2009 raptor poisoning figures shortly….