An update on the status of the UK hen harrier population

The latest results from the 2016 hen harrier breeding survey make sobering reading. There are now just 545 breeding pairs left in the UK, down by 88 pairs from the last UK survey in 2010. Scotland remains the species’ stronghold with 460 pairs but even here there has been a drop from the 505 pairs recorded in 2010.

In England, the hen harrier has almost disappeared as a breeding species. In 2010 there were 12 pairs but last year only four pairs attempted to breed. There have been declines too in Wales and Northern Ireland.

Image courtesy of Mark Thomas (rspb-images.com)

Longer term figures highlight the dramatic decline the UK hen harrier population has suffered over the past twelve years. The national survey in 2004 pointed to an estimated 749 pairs, meaning hen harrier numbers have fallen by 204 pairs (39%) in the years following.

So why, when most of our raptor species are increasing does the hen harrier continue to buck the trend? Simple - they are being illegally shot, trapped and killed (for example, see here). 

We know that wildlife crime linked to grouse moor management is preventing the hen harrier population from recovering despite being fully legally protected. There are those that make this a binary issue: shooting vs conservation. This divisive simplification suits those who commit wildlife crime but undermines the work of some estates doing good work for wildlife.

The RSPB is not anti-shooting and is genuinely keen to identify like-minded people to work with within the shooting community. However, this approach only works if members of the shooting community are prepared to accept there are problems that need to be addressed. All too often when issues are raised with intensive driven grouse management, the reaction tends to be to pull up the drawbridge and deny there are any problems, rather than accepting the challenge to make things better. For as long as this denial persists, collaboration will always be challenging.

All of us who want to see these magnificent birds return to their rightful place as the totemic skydancers of our hills and moors are rightly angry and frustrated.  And there are many, for example the volunteers, who without their help, dedication and expertise we wouldn’t be able to build up this accurate picture of these magnificent birds of prey.

However, recent positive developments promised in Scotland (see here) show what might be around the corner, north of the border and perhaps one day south of it too.  The Scots want to look at the possibilities around regulating grouse moors, making them more environmentally friendly and clamping down on areas where birds are illegally killed. Licensing of this type could benefit shoots as well as wildlife. A fair set of rules for driven grouse shooting would stop unfair competition from damaging practices, and help those sticking to the law by improving the public’s confidence in the sport.

Ultimately, on many moors it comes down to the need for smaller ‘bags’ – the number of grouse shot across a season. The high end of intensification has practices that try and maximise the ‘bag size’ such as repeated heather burning, medication of grouse, drainage, burning on deep peat and the culling of mountain hares not to mention illegal killing of raptors; all of which would need to be reduced or halted in order to progress towards some semblance of sustainability.  

Grouse can still be shot but there needs to be acknowledgment that managing a moor purely to maximise ‘bag size’ is not a sustainable land management practice. If not, then public confidence in grouse shooting will deteriorate even further putting into question the future of driven grouse shooting.