Court proceedings began at Elgin Sheriff Court yesterday against gamekeeper Stanley Gordon who has been charged in connection with the shooting of a hen harrier in June 2013.
Stanley Gordon, 60, of Cabrach, Moray, did not enter a plea and the case was continued until 16th June 2016.
Grant Moir, Chief Executive of the Cairngorms National Park Authority, has today issued a statement about the recent shooting of a goshawk (here) on land within the National Park:
“We are incredibly frustrated to again be putting out a statement condemning the shooting of a raptor in the National Park. We must ensure such crimes become a thing of the past. We will be working with the new Minister for Environment to consider what else we can do in the National Park, building on public support for our wildlife and finding ways of getting more eyes and ears on the ground. We encourage anyone with information relating to this incident to contact the police by calling 101”.
The condemnation is good and is the least we should expect. However, the bit about “We will be working with the new Minister for Environment to consider what else we can do….” shows good intent, but in reality amounts to little more than a PR soundbite.
Remember the Cairngorms Nature action plan, aimed at restoring raptor populations & managing mountain hares for the benefit of golden eagles within the Cairngorms National Park (CNP), launched with great fanfare in May 2013 (see here)?
A resounding failure, as evidenced in May 2013 by the mysterious ‘disappearance’ of a young sat-tagged golden eagle on a CNP grouse moor (here); in May 2013 by the alleged ‘coordinated hunting’ and subsequent shooting of a hen harrier on a CNP grouse moor (here); in April 2014 by the mysterious ‘disappearance’ on a CNP grouse moor of East Scotland’s first fledged white-tailed eagle in ~200 years (here); in May 2014 by this video of masked armed gunmen attacking a goshawk nest within the CNP (here); in October 2015 by the publication of a scientific study documenting the long term decline of breeding peregrines on grouse moors in the eastern portion of the CNP (see here); in February 2016 by the publication of a scientific study documenting the catastrophic decline of breeding hen harriers in the eastern portion of the CNP (here); in March 2016 by the discovery of a dead hen harrier ‘Lad’, suspected shot, found on a grouse moor within the CNP (here); in March 2016 by the news that mountain hares were being massacred on grouse moors within the CNP (here); and again in March 2016 by news that further mountain hare massacres were taking place on grouse moors within the CNP (here); and now in May 2016 by the news that a goshawk was shot on an estate within the CNP (here).
And also remember, the CNPA has already met with the (now former) Environment Minister in January 2015 to discuss the issue of raptor persecution and moorland management within the NP – we blogged about that meeting here. The Environment Minister said afterwards that she ‘welcomed the positive collaboration shown between the CNPA and landowners and looked forward to seeing a real difference on the ground‘.
What is the point of the CNPA having further discussions with another naive Environment Minister? It’s utterly pointless. The grouse moor managers within the Cairngorms National Park are running rings around the Park Authority, and have been doing so for years: Golden eagles poisoned, golden eagles ‘disappearing’, white-tailed eagles ‘disappearing’, hen harriers being shot, breeding hen harriers in catastrophic decline, goshawks being shot, goshawk nests being attacked, breeding peregrines in long-term decline, mountain hares massacred. All within the Cairngorms National Park, the so-called ‘jewel’ of Scottish wildlife. It’s scandalous.
What we need, urgently, from the CNPA is action, not more hand-wringing and platitudes. For a start, the CNPA could be looking at the Sandford Principle (see here and here). There’s an excellent blog called Parks Watch Scotland that has also suggested some courses of action the CNPA could take: see here and here.
The CNPA CEO said today he was ‘incredibly frustrated’. We all are, but the difference is the CNPA has the power to do something about it.
Actually, we do have some power, albeit more indirect than the powers of the CNPA. We have the power to blog about the rampant and persistent persecution of wildlife within the National Park and by doing so, raise awareness amongst an unsuspecting general public of just what is happening to THEIR wildlife within the boundary of THEIR National Park. We’re pretty sure that as more people get to hear about it, the vast majority will be outraged and will join the call for further action to be taken against those grouse moor estates.
Please sign the petition and join 35,000+ calling for a parliamentary debate on the banning of driven grouse shooting: HERE
A goshawk has been shot on an Aberdeenshire sporting estate inside the Cairngorms National Park.
The shooting was witnessed by a man walking his dogs in the Strathdon area in April. The bird was shot approx 30 yards away by an unseen gunman.
The witness took the bird to the New Arc wildlife sanctuary where an examination revealed severe damage to the lung and shoulder. The goshawk was euthanised.
Police Scotland are apparently investigating this crime. The name of the estate where the shooting was witnessed has not been released.
Article in P&J here
This part of the Cairngorms National Park is no stranger to illegal raptor persecution, and indeed goshawks have been targeted here before (see here). The situation is so bad in this region that in 2014 the Convenor of the Cairngorms National Park Authority wrote to the Environment Minister to warn that continued incidents of dead and ‘disappearing’ raptors threatened to undermine the reputation of the National Park as a high quality wildlife tourism destination (see here).
Land management within the Cairngorms National Park (notably driven grouse moors) has recently come under fire following the continuing mass slaughter of mountain hares (see here and here) and the discovery of a dead hen harrier, suspected to have been shot (see here).
Please sign the petition to ban driven grouse shooting HERE.
UPDATE 10th May 2016: Statement from Cairngorms National Park Authority here
Last month we blogged about a buzzard that had been found with shotgun injuries in North Frodingham, East Yorkshire (see here). Vet Mark Naguib pinned the buzzard’s wing and the bird spent four weeks in the expert care of wildlife rehabilitation specialist Jean Thorpe.
Two days ago, Jean was able to release the buzzard back to the wild:
Just a few weeks earlier, we blogged about Jean’s work to successfully rehabilitate and release a shot red kite (see here).
Thanks, again, Jean Thorpe, for the incredible work you do.
If anyone wants to support Jean’s efforts, please consider making a donation here.
On 21st April 2016, a new red kite nest was discovered in woodland near Alwoodley Lane in the Eccup area of Leeds, West Yorkshire. Hanging in a tree next to the nest was the corpse of a dead kite.
A veterinary examination revealed the bird had suffered shot gun injuries and was most likely killed while on the nest, incubating eggs.
Short article in Yorkshire Evening Post here.
This is the latest in a number of illegally killed or illegally injured red kites reported in recent weeks. Others include this one in North Yorkshire, this one in North-east England, these two in Oxfordshire and another one in North Yorkshire.
Photo of the latest shot red kite in Leeds by Doug Simpson.
North Yorkshire Police are appealing for information after the discovery of a critically injured red kite near Harrogate.
The wounded kite was discovered on Saturday 23rd April 2016 on farmland near Nidd, Harrogate and was taken to a specialist vet. X-rays revealed it had been shot. The vet believed the bird had been shot while in flight and had survived, unable to fly, for up to two days.
Unfortunately its injuries were so severe the kite had to be euthanised.
Press release from North Yorks Police here.
A big well done to the police for getting this appeal for information out so quickly – kite found on Saturday, press release (with photos) out on Wednesday. That’s a fantastic response.
Sick to the back teeth of hearing about the illegal killing of raptors? Help bring it to an end by signing this e-petition calling for a parliamentary debate on the future of grouse shooting – HERE
Thames Valley Police are appealing for information after the discovery of two injured red kites, both suffering from shotgun wounds.
Both kites were discovered in Oakley Wood, near Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, Oxfordshire. One was found on 29th March 2016 and the second was found on 5th April.
Both are now in the expert care of Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital.
The Police have revealed that a third red kite had been found in the same wood on 22nd March 2016, although the cause of death is not known.
Anyone with information is asked to call Thames Valley Police on 101, quoting reference #URN 372 06/04/16.
Well done to Thames Valley Police for issuing an appeal for information (here).
Photographs of the two injured kites and their x-rays provided by Tiggywinkles.
The following images appeared on social media a couple of days ago.
This is a goshawk that was found critically injured in Brockweir, Gloucestershire in April 2016 and was taken to Vale Wildlife Hospital. It had been shot in the head.
Unfortunately its injuries were so severe the decision was taken to euthanise the bird.
No further information available.
UPDATE Tues 26th April: Glos Police has today issued an appeal for info here
Photographs by Vale Wildlife Hospital
Yet another red kite has been illegally killed in North-east England.
The body of the latest victim was discovered in Chopwell Wood, west of Rowlands Gill, Gateshead, over the Easter weekend. It had been shot.
For those of you who read Mick Render’s poignant guest blog on Mark Avery’s website last week (here), this news will come as no surprise.
Further details of the latest fatality here.
Red kite photo by David Tomlinson
Last month we blogged about an injured red kite that had been found in Malton, North Yorkshire. It had suffered shotgun injuries to the throat and was being cared for by wildlife rehabilitator extraordinaire, Jean Thorpe (see here).
After a few weeks of care and attention, that red kite was successfully released back to the wild yesterday (Photo by Robert Fuller)
Well done and thank you, Jean Thorpe, what a remarkable lady! Remember, Jean does this in a voluntary capacity with no government funding to support her work. Please consider making a small (or large!) donation to help her: HERE.
Of course, North Yorkshire isn’t the only location where red kites are routinely persecuted, either by illegal trapping, shooting or poisoning. There’s a poignant commentary on Mark Avery’s blog today, documenting the disgraceful persecution of red kites on the grouse moors of north east England and how this is suppressing the expansion of the reintroduced kite population. It’s an all too familiar story (e.g. see here).
Join the tens of thousands of ordinary people who are saying enough is enough: HERE
Raptor Persecution UK 