As we step into 2024 with continued commitment to tackling the issue of raptor persecution, it’s worth reflecting on 2023 and the work of the RSPB Investigations Team. Like most years, 2023 was full of highs and lows with the issue of raptor persecution persisting throughout. As seen in previous years, despite their legal protection, certain individuals intentionally and often regularly kill raptors. These incidents largely occur in areas associated with the gamebird industry where raptors are viewed as a threat to gamebird stocks. Sadly, we continued to receive reports and uncover cases of shot, poisoned and trapped birds of prey through the year, reflecting trends seen over decades.
The Team worked diligently throughout 2023 to expose these crimes and assist the Police and other enforcement agencies to ensure that these incidents were investigated, and when possible, follow through to a conviction. This legal outcome is a priority and the team strive to tackle these cases by providing training for police forces and veterinary clinics, carrying out investigative fieldwork, gathering intelligence, supporting police investigations, and assisting in getting cases to court.
Just two weeks into the new year, a shocking case of raptor persecution came to light when five dead Goshawks were found in a public car park near Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk. X-rays showed that these birds - a highly protected Schedule 1 species – had been shot. A financial reward of £5000 for any information leading to a conviction was offered by the RSPB, quickly matched by Wild Justice. In addition to this, a crowd funder by Rare Bird Alert was also initiated.
Despite these appeals no valuable information came to light, but unexpectedly forensic analysis found DNA on one of the birds that matched an individual on the police database. In June 2023 Frances Addison, a part-time gamekeeper in Norfolk was found guilty of the possession of five dead Goshawks. This was the first case that an individual was prosecuted for raptor persecution offences based on DNA evidence. The value of forensics in securing a conviction is a significant development in the field of raptor persecution investigations and we hope that this technique will be used more in the future.
Five shot juvenile Goshawks found in a public car park in January 2023. A gamekeeper, Frances Addison, was charged with possession of these Schedule 1 raptors in June 2023 after his DNA linked him to these birds.
After the discovery of an illegally poisoned Red Kite in 2020, Dorset Police conducted a search on Shaftesbury Estate supported by specialist staff from Natural England, the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) and the RSPB. Six dead Buzzards and the burnt remains of at least three more were discovered along with a loaded firearm and multiple banned, highly toxic chemicals. On 16 February 2023, gamekeeper Paul Allen pleaded guilty to the possession of dead raptors and poisons. He received a suspended sentence and was ordered to pay compensation and a series of fines related to firearm offences and illegally stored chemicals.
Frustratingly, this case is not unique. As this incident highlights, certain individuals linked to the industry habitually kill raptors which they view as a pest species and a threat to their gamebird stocks.
May 2023 was a notable low point in our year, with the shocking news that two young White-tailed Eagles were found dead just a few feet away from one another on a grouse moor at Glenwherry, in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Analysis confirmed that both eagles had died as a result of ingesting Bendiocarb, a highly toxic insecticide. Laying poisoned baits which are laced with highly toxic pesticides is a common technique used to target and kill birds of prey. Sadly, in recent years as White-tailed Eagles become more established in the UK, incidents of these magnificent eagles dying after ingesting poison are increasing. The RSPB has offered a £5000 reward for any information which leads to a conviction. The case remains under investigation and the police continue to appeal for information.
Two White-tailed Eagles found poisoned on a grouse moor in County Antrim, Northern Ireland in May 2023. Both birds had ingested the insecticide Bendiocarb – a pesticide often used in raptor persecution poisoning incidents.
In July 2023 a landmark paper (Ewing et al., 2023) which studied Hen Harrier persecution on grouse moors was published in Biological Conservation, by the RSPB Centre for Conservation Science, using data received from RSPB satellite-tagged Hen Harriers.
Since 2014 the RSPB has been fitting satellite transmitters to juvenile birds of prey across the UK. The real-time data received from these satellite-tags has given fascinating and previously unknown insights into the lives of these birds and enables us to better understand their ecology and detect suspected cases of raptor persecution.
If a satellite-tagged Hen Harrier dies of natural causes the tag will continue to transmit and a body or remains may be recoverable. Therefore, when a tag suddenly stops transmitting data without any indication of tag malfunction (often referred to as a ‘sudden stop, no malfunction’) it suggests that the bird may have been illegally killed. These suspicious disappearances often correspond closely with areas managed for grouse shooting.
Ewing’s paper revealed that the illegal killing of Hen Harriers associated with gamebird management accounts for up to three-quarters of Hen Harrier annual mortality. It also concluded that persecution accounted for 27-43% of mortality of first-year birds, with the lifespan of Hen Harriers after fledging averaging 121 days.
The survival of young Hen Harriers largely depends on where they go and the route they take to get there. Unfortunately, these young raptors do not innately know where these persecution hotspots are, and risk being shot, trapped or poisoned should they stray onto estates where these criminal activities are commonplace.
August came, and with it, the official start of the Red Grouse shooting season - the ‘Glorious Twelfth’, when grouse numbers are managed to be at their peak level to ensure a successful shooting season. Unfortunately, as previous years have shown, this event goes hand-in-hand with raptor persecution incidents in or around grouse moors, where some individuals will illegally kill birds of prey in order to preserve grouse stocks and to clear the ground before the start of the shooting season. In August, six satellite-tagged Hen Harriers suspiciously disappeared over or near land managed as driven grouse moors. In total, 24 Hen Harriers were confirmed as having been killed or had suspiciously disappeared in 2023, including many birds from Natural England’s brood management trial. Alarmingly, this is the highest recorded number of Hen Harriers that have been killed or have suspiciously disappeared in one year.
Dagda, a male Hen Harrier being fitted with a satellite-tag as a young bird in 2022. The following spring, after successfully pairing with a female his body was found on Knarsdale Moor. Post-mortem results confirmed that he had died after being shot with a shotgun.
It’s worth noting that these figures are likely to under-represent the true scale of Hen Harrier persecution. Most of the 39 Hen Harriers were satellite-tagged individuals. These represent only a small proportion of the number of birds which fledge annually in the UK. If an untagged Hen Harrier is persecuted in a vast and remote upland area, it is likely that the crime will go unseen and unreported.
In October 2023, a satellite-tagged Golden Eagle known as Merrick suspiciously disappeared when it’s tag suddenly stopped transmitting in the Scottish borders. Shockingly, several satellite-tagged Golden Eagles have suspiciously disappeared over the years in Scotland with eagles being trapped, shot and poisoned. The persecution of these birds, like many other species of raptor, is strongly associated with land managed for grouse shooting.
A satellite-tagged Golden Eagle illegally killed in 2012.
Merrick had been translocated to southern Scotland as part of the South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project and was last seen south of Edinburgh in mid-October. Based on past cases involving sat-tagged Golden Eagles, it is assumed that Merrick is the latest Golden Eagle to have been illegally killed in Scotland. Police Scotland are still investigating this incident.
In November 2023, the RSPB produced the latest Birdcrime report which documented raptor persecution cases during 2022, exposing several incidents of shooting, trapping and poisoning of birds of prey across the UK. As in previous years there was a significant correlation between these crimes and the gamebird industry with at least 64% of confirmed cases across the UK being linked to this activity. The report also revealed that 2022 was the year in which the total number of confirmed incidents of raptor persecution in the UK since 2013 exceeded one thousand. As highlighted before, these are likely to be a fraction of the actual total number of cases of raptor persecution in the UK as these are only the crimes which have been reported and confirmed.
November was a significant month for the Investigations Team as the Wildlife Management and Muirburn Bill passed stage one in the Scottish Parliament. If enacted, the Bill will introduce the licensing of grouse shooting in Scotland, to ensure this is managed in accordance with the law. This new legislation will provide the much-needed deterrent to those who chose to kill birds of prey, tackling the issue of raptor persecution directly through meaningful deterrent and sanctions. The suspected killing of a Golden Eagle and a Hen Harrier in Scotland in 2023 are indicative of a far wider problem and emphasises the urgent need for effective legislative change. The Bill has now progressed to stage 2 and will be debated further in the Scottish Parliament this year. It is hoped that the new measures will be in place for the start of the autumn grouse shooting season in August 2024.
A hard knock for the team came about in December 2023. Earlier in the year the RSPB were involved in assisting the police with an investigation in Wales involving the suspected killing of a Goshawk on land associated with pheasant shoots. Although forensic evidence provided significant information to support the case and a person was charged in connection to this alleged crime, the case was thrown out of court in November due to procedural issues at court. This was a hard blow for the Investigations Team as the evidence gathered was irrefutable. Getting these types of cases to court is often a struggle, largely due to the quality of the evidence gathered. To have them fall at the final hurdle for reasons unrelated to the case itself is extremely frustrating. In this instance a protected Goshawk was illegally killed and the person responsible got away with it.
In early December, as we neared the end of the year, we were contacted about a raptor persecution incident involving a young female Peregrine found injured on a school playground. The swift action of a wildlife rehabilitator and expert care from a wildlife vet, meant that the bird was quickly assessed, and life-saving treatment given. X-rays showed that the bird had been shot in the leg whilst flying and had fallen to the ground, dislocating a bone near its shoulder. After a month of dedicated care from Ryedale Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre the bird was successfully released back into the wild. Although the recovery of this Peregrine and the fact that it has another chance at living is fantastic news, we celebrate with care and caution. This bird has another chance to battle what nature throws at it, but in addition to the environmental pressures which any bird naturally faces this bird has an unnatural burden – carried by all birds of prey in the UK – of being targeted by those who want to kill raptors.
This bird is the 24th Peregrine (that we know of) to have been shot in the UK in the last five years. As already highlighted, because of the nature of these crimes raptor persecution incidents are often undetected. Our data signifies only a fraction of the real numbers.
A young female Peregrine was found in early December 2023 on a school playground near Doncaster having been shot.
Throughout 2023 the RSPB has worked closely with police forces across the UK, the National Wildlife Crime Unit, Raptor Study Groups, veterinary laboratories and prosecuting agencies to expose these crimes and successfully challenge them. The RSPB Investigations Team have regularly attended and contributed to the government-led Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group (RPPDG) both in Scotland, England and Wales to ensure raptor persecution (one of the UK’s national wildlife crime priorities) continues to be challenged. We look forward to further developing this vital partnership work in 2024.
The Investigations Team will continue to work tirelessly to ensure the issue of raptor persecution is challenged both on a legislative level and directly in the field. We all remain committed to preventing and tackling these crimes in 2024.