The BBC is reporting the fatal shooting of a kestrel in Wrexham, although judging by the photograph it appears the victim was a sparrowhawk, not a kestrel.
The critically injured bird was discovered by a member of the public on Thursday 29th August in Brynhyfryd, Johnstown and it died shortly afterwards.
The RSPCA Cymru are appealing for information. Tel: 0300 1234 999.
BBC News article here
Back in mid-July we blogged about a dead buzzard that had been found near Heriot in the Scottish Borders – it had been shot, but the precise cause of death was not known (see here).
Fast forward to August and it has now been revealed the buzzard had also been poisoned and that this was the cause of death, according to the BBC (see here). The poison used has not been named.
Enormous credit, once again, to the local Police Wildlife Crime Officer Hannah Medley for pursuing this case and also for publicising the findings in the media. Credit also to the lab folk at SASA for managing to detect poison in what had previously been described as a badly decomposed carcass.
This confirmed poisoning now takes the number of known (reported) poisonings in Scotland this year above the published figure from last year, so hopefully we will no longer have to read the ridiculous claims from the usual suspects that ‘poisoning cases are significantly declining’. The facts show that they are doing nothing of the sort. How ironic in this, the so-called Year of Natural Scotland.
Unfortunately the public haven’t been allowed to see this year’s on-going tally as yet – we know of several poisoned birds that have not yet been reported in the media, even though the birds were poisoned much earlier in the year. We’ll have more to say about these cases later in September and we’ll be asking the usual questions of a particular Police Scotland division about why they’ve kept these poisonings a secret for so long.
Police in Bristol are appealing for information after a young peregrine was found injured by the side of the road in Queen Charlton, near Keynsham earlier this month. An x-ray revealed the bird had been shot.
The bird, which had been ringed as a chick in July, is now in the care of a local rehabilitation expert.
More details in The Bristol Post here.
A juvenile red kite was found critically injured in the village of Leadhills on 8th August. It’s injuries were so severe the bird had to be euthanised. See here for an SSPCA press release, and well done to them for not only getting this info out in good time but also for saying it how it is – none of this ‘the bird’s death was not by natural causes’ rubbish that we saw Police Scotland put out a few months ago when a shot red kite had been found in Aberdeenshire (see here).
This latest incident will come as no surprise whatsoever to anybody who has been following this blog.
If you’re new to this blog and don’t know what happens to birds of prey at Leadhills, try reading this as a little introduction and for even more info just click on the Leadhills Estate tag and read on.
So, here we are again, reporting yet another crime against a bird of prey at Leadhills. Not to worry though, especially if you happen to be the RSPB Scotland Director – he has recently agreed to hold the 2014 Scottish Birdfair at Hopetoun House, returning for the third consecutive year. For those who don’t know, the Hopetoun family own Leadhills Estate and some of them live in Hopetoun House. The Earl of Hopetoun also happens to serve on the Board of Directors at Scottish Land & Estates.
Needless to say, we’ll be blogging some more in due course about the RSPB’s decision to return to Hopetoun House, and we still need to blog about the Leadhills Estate Game Book that has found its way into our hands. We’ve also got some other stuff about Leadhills to talk about…it’s just a question of finding the time…
More soon….
Three peregrines have been found shot in South Tipperary, Ireland over the last few weeks.
The first, a breeding female, was found shot dead under her church ruin nest site in mid-June.
The second, an adult male, was found injured a few days later near to another nest site close by. This bird is being treated at a rehabilitation centre but it is feared it will not recover well enough to be released.
The third, a breeding male, was found shot dead in July at the nest site where the adult female had been shot dead.
Full details on the BirdWatch Ireland website here.
The photograph shows the adult female found shot dead in June. Photo by Kevin Collins.
And so it continues….
An injured buzzard was delivered to a wildlife resecue centre near Beith, North Ayrshire on Sunday. It had been shot in the throat.
Hessilhead Wildlife Rescue Centre had this to say:
“Today a buzzard was delivered to us, and we were disappointed to see it had been shot. A pellet had punctured the buzzard’s crop, and some of its last meal was oozing out. We cleaned it up, stitched up the wound, and hope that the pellet hasn’t gone right through the crop. The bird will need antibiotics, and we are hopeful of a full recovery“.
Another raptor persecution incident, another victim, another wildlife crime for which no-one will be brought to justice. This case is just the latest in a string of incidents in Scotland this year: there has been at least one (recorded) raptor persecution incident every single month so far this year.
The Irish National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has published its first national raptor persecution report, relating to reported incidents in 2011.
The NPWS issued the following press release:
“33 poisoning or persecution incidents affecting birds of prey were recorded in Ireland in 2011, according to a report published today by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
15 birds of prey were confirmed poisoned, and four more suspected cases were recorded. 8 birds of prey were shot.
Some of the deaths were accidental, but many were deliberate. The most frequent casualty was the red kite, a native species that was recently re-introduced to Ireland. It is believed that seven of the ten kites found dead were poisoned by eating rats that had themselves been poisoned. As well as red kite, other raptor species that were deliberately targeted included peregrine falcon, buzzard, sparrowhawk, and kestrel.
The report is the result of cooperation between the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine’s Regional Veterinary Laboratories and the State Laboratory, and also involves An Garda Síochána, the Golden Eagle Trust and BirdWatch Ireland.
The report notes that the use of tracking devices on birds has enabled dead birds to be found, but this also means that the true levels of mortality are likely to be significantly higher.
The use of poison has been greatly restricted under EU law in recent years. It is illegal to poison any animal or birds other than rats, mice or rabbits in Ireland and only then using certain registered products. The Campaign for Responsible Rodenticide Use has recently been set up with funding from industry. This campaign aims to promote best practice so that rat poison in particular should not get into the wildlife food chain where it harms owls, kites and other birds of prey.
The poisoning of golden and white-tailed sea eagles has been a particular problem in recent years, but fortunately in 2011, no poisonings were recorded. Records of poisoning and persecution in 2012 are currently being analysed and the second annual report is due for release shortly.
The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Mr Jimmy Deenihan, T.D., welcomed the report. ”This gives us at least a partial view of the scale of the problem in Ireland”, he said. ”It is simply not acceptable for majestic birds of prey and other wildlife to be persecuted or poisoned. First it is illegal, but just as important it harms our reputation as a clean, green country. I would urge anyone to report such incidents to the National Parks and Wildlife Service in my Department. There are alternatives to poison which can be successfully used when control is essential ” he said.”
Here is a copy of the report: Persecution Report Ireland 2011
The publication of this report, and the anticipated future annual reports, demonstrates a basic but very important step forward, allowing the authorities and NGOs to monitor and record raptor persecution incidents in a coordinated effort, to help tackle the issue as well as to improve public awareness and education.
The report includes the usual list of victims and the substances that were used to kill them (Alphachloralose, Carbofuran etc) although we did notice one particular substance that was less familiar – Nitroxynil (also called Nitroxinil). As far as we understand, Nitroxynil is an active ingredient in the veterinary treatment of cattle and sheep, for example in sheep dips. According to this report, Nitroxynil was detected in the carcases of three poisoned white-tailed eagles and one golden eagle, as well as in several recovered baits, including an egg and two lagomorphs (rabbit or hare).
It would appear, given that it was detected in different baits, that Nitroxynil has been used deliberately in Ireland to target any animal that might scavenge from a bait. It’s also possible that some of the deaths were from accidental poisoning, although fallen stock should not be left out on the hill.
We’re not certain, but we don’t recall seeing Nitroxynil listed in any recent toxicology reports published in Scotland by SASA. We don’t know if SASA tests for this substance when they’re presented with a potentially poisoned animal – it would be fair to say that SASA can’t test for every known poison due to resource constraints, and it’s reasonable for them just to test for the more commonly-used poisons. However, we have noticed in recent SASA reports that there are quite a number of birds for which SASA have been unable to establish the cause of death (i.e. the poisons they regularly screen for have not been detected) even though the circumstances of the bird’s death may have been suspicious. If SASA are not already testing for Nitroxynil, we hope that they pay attention to the frequency of detection in Irish cases and consider including it in the list of poisons for which they routinely screen.
Well done to the Irish NPWS and their project partners for getting this report published.
In Scotland we’re still waiting for the promised 2012 wildlife crime report from the Scottish Government. Environment Minister Paul Wheelhouse told the Police Wildlife Crime Conference in March 2013 that his staff were working on the report. Earlier this month, we asked him if he could tell us when we might expect to see it published (see here). According to our calendar (he has to respond within 20 working days), Mr Wheelhouse is due to provide a response to that question, and the other questions we posed, by this coming Wednesday…..
UPDATE 29th July: SASA are on the ball – they’ve recently started to test for Nitroxynil – see here.
North Yorkshire Police are appealing for information after a kestrel was found shot on Monday. The bird was found near the High Batts Nature Reserve at North Stainley, near Ripon, its wing shattered by shotgun pellets. It had to be euthanised by a vet.
North Yorkshire is one of the worst areas for raptor persecution crimes in the UK.
We’re impressed that North Yorkshire Police Wildlife Crime Officer PC Gareth Jones got the appeal for information out, in the media and on the North Yorks Police website, within 4 days of the bird being found. Really well done to him.
Anyone with information about this crime is urged to contact PC Gareth Jones – his details available in the following links:
Press release on North Yorks Police website here
Article in the Northern Echo here
Photo of kestrel hovering by davidchapman.org.uk
A dead buzzard found in the Heriot area of the Scottish Borders had been shot, according to the BBC.
Police Scotland are appealing for information after the bird’s decomposed body was discovered close to Carcant Hill on 30th June. A forensic analysis revealed the bird had been shot although it’s not known whether this was the cause of death.
Well done to the new Police Scotland WCO in the Borders, PC Hannah Medley, for publicising this incident within a couple of weeks of the bird being found (her second one this year, following the discovery of a shot buzzard at St Mary’s Loch in March, which she also publicised pretty quickly – see here).
BBC article on latest shot buzzard in Heriot here.
Police in Greater Manchester are appealing for information after a dead buzzard was found in a field in Bolton. X-rays revealed the bird had been shot in the head.
The bird was found by a dog walker on 25th June in a field close to Salford Road and St. Helens Road.
PC Randolph Lyle makes some frankly bizarre statements in the police appeal, e.g. “shooting and killing one [buzzard] can have a devastating impact on their habitat and biodiversity“. Eh? He also seems quite keen to put across an argument that this buzzard wasn’t killed by someone from the game-shooting industry…
Nevertheless, Greater Manchester Police should be credited for at least putting out a press statement, so well done to them for that.
Anyone with information can call GMP on 0161-856-5578 or can make an anonymous call to Crimestoppers on 0800-555-111.
Greater Manchester Police press release here.
Raptor Persecution UK 