20 years of shame as war continues against birds of prey
2009 was another shocking year for the persecution of birds of prey according to the RSPB’s 20th annual Birdcrime report.
With 499 reported incidents against birds of prey in the UK, including 384 reports of shooting, trapping and poisoning, 2009 was the second worst year in the last decade. Only 2007, with 389 persecution cases, was worse.
North Yorkshire tops the 2009 UK league of shame jointly with Cumbria, with 27 incidents against birds of prey. In South Yorkshire there were 12 reported incidents, 11 in West Yorkshire and 4 in East Riding.
In the report, the RSPB has identified 11 recommendations for government action, so that these appalling crimes can be eradicated.
Dr Mark Avery, the RSPB’s Conservation Director, said: “Wildlife crimes are an abhorrent feature of our countryside. And for the sake of eagles, kites, harriers, buzzards, falcons and ospreys we have to take more action to consign these crimes to history. Over time egg collecting has diminished, but the killing of birds of prey is as big threat today as it was two decades ago.
Read Dr Mark Avery's Blog Here
“Earlier this year the former Wildlife Minister – Huw Irranca-Davies – was one of more than 210,000 people to sign a pledge to protect birds of prey. This is a powerful voice and we will not rest until their cries have been heard by government.”
In 2009, the government announced that bird of prey persecution was one of the top wildlife crime priorities. In view of the current spending review, the RSPB is concerned that resources to tackle wildlife crime will be seen as a soft option. The RSPB wants to see: a commitment from the government to tackling these crimes; long-term funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit; and a full wildlife crime review in England.
The conflict with land managed for the shooting of game birds remains the main problem for birds of prey, particularly the upland grouse-shooting estates in northern England and Scotland. The main birds of prey affected are: golden eagle, white-tailed eagle, hen harrier, goshawk, peregrine and red kite.
Although crimes against birds of prey are widespread across the UK, analysis of the figures by the RSPB over the past two decades shows that certain constabulary areas are hotspots for wildlife crime.
In England, since 1990, the police forces with the highest levels of reported bird of prey persecution include:
· North Yorkshire with 229 reported bird of prey persecution incidents;
· Northumbria with 132 bird reported bird of prey persecution incidents;
· Cumbria with 123 reported bird of prey persecution incidents;
The RSPB's Investigations Section was instrumental in the creation of the police WCO network. Since then the network has gone from strength to strength.
WCOs are police officers who are designated by their forces to deal with wildlife crime issues.
The majority of forces now have at least one WCO, and many forces having several. Most WCOs undertake their wildlife duties on top of all their other policing work, but a small number of forces now have a full-time WCO.
The RSPB places high emphasis on training and supporting this network and contributes to the national training course for WCOs as well as training individual forces. The RSPB instituted and organised the annual national WCO conference every year since its inception in 1989 until handing it over to the police and Defra in 1997.
Why not check out the news from the wildlife enquiries team?
Hi,
Very depressing reading unfortunately and I am of the opinion that no matter your views on game culling or whatever other practices are in place, anyone comiting an offence against a wild animal should recieve a maximum sentence. All to often you hear of perpetrators getting off with a fine or a community service order. This is not enough. There appears to be a serious lack of deterrent against said crimes and it will continue if police forces and the jural system do not take the crimes seriously.
El
Cheers
DPC
"dawn is mine, but I will share it, with whatever bird will wear it"
Im with Owl!
Welcome to the fourms by the way Owl.
AL
If its no fun Yer no doin it right!
Even if the RSPB do not like it the fact is that estate owners are going to shoot Grouse etc and they own vast areas of land that would otherwise be wasteland with probably almost no wildlife.Do the RSPB talk seriously about a solution towards less B O P deaths with these people because they certainly need to as catching them is almost impossible and these numbers are the tip of a iceberg because most carcases of course are never found spread over such large areas.Just guess someone will say talking no good but in practice most things stand better chance of being solved by discussion between party's and we may if we want to see lots more B O P have to compensate these shoots.After all not much different to compensation to crofters and farmers on Scotland west coast and some Islands just off the Scottish west coast.
Hopefully not anti RSPB and not removed under terms and conditions.
Thats a good point Sooty.
The very fact that the word sport is used in game bird shoots suggests to me that it is done as a past time and for recreational fun. I dont agree with it personally but it is legal. Fair enough.
There are other bird and wildlife crimes that are present but Birds of Prey are a key focus in that they are slow breeders, there are always fewer predators to prey meaning that a species like the Hen Harrier is much more vunerable to persecution than a House sparrow.
Its not about allgiances with one type of group or people but an acceptance that this crime exists in game bird areas and this needs to be addressed.
If we had no BOP's it would upset the natural balance of all other species and I think we should not kid ourselves otherwise.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. - Albert Einstein
The illegal persecution of birds, be they BoP or not, and how this abhorrence can be eliminated should be the issue to be addressed by everyone. Energies should be channelled towards that rather than certain conservation charities using it as a political tool against shooting in general. These private landowners provide much conservation input into the countryside.
Aside from BoP it is not just these private landowners who operate a policy of control with regard certain wildlife species. It is also carried out by various conservation charities too, including the RSPB, albeit not publicised for fear of alienating their members presumably.
People caught committing crimes against ANY bird species should be brought to justice equally. Who are we to judge whether one species is more important than another. An ecological food web needs all the members present to function as nature intended. BoP are indeed at the top of the food chain but it sends a strange message to have a heavier penalty against only BoP. What about other non-BoP species that are rare? I would hope someone who targeted Pied Flycatcher, for example, would be dealt with appropriately too.
To play devil’s advocate with Craig B’s point; if someone for a pastime and recreational fun keeps chickens in their garden, which they will eventually eat it then presumably is as ‘wrong’ as game shooting?
By the way, thank you for the welcome AL. I’ve enjoyed reading some of the threads and found the quality of the photos in the forum to be superb.
I have not heard that many people keeping chickens in thier garden to then blast them to pieces with a shotgun?
Maybe I am naive but doesnt the majority of people who keep chickens for fun; do so for thier eggs?
If I choose to eat a dead one, I usually head to the nearest supermarket.
Again I will repeat what I said and that is no one is blaming every land owner but time and time again these crimes are reported and it leads to game owners land.
I am sure other crimes are reported but its the amount of persecution that is commited towards BoP on this land that attracts the attention of the public and rightly so.
Of course it goes without saying that all wildlife is protected equally and I am sure if Pied flycatchers were in trouble of being persecuted we would and certainly any wildlife charity would know about it; for example the huge amount of persecution of migrating birds in Malta (no bias towards one species as all species are vunerable to shooting).
Regards
Craig
Certainly birds other than raptors are victims of persecution but it's normally at the hands of common or garden sickos. In Cheltenham someone speared a young LBB Gull with a screwdriver recently. We've all seen pictures of wildfowl with crossbow bolts sticking out of them. These are incidental events and I think that most of us would agree that the perpetrators need speedy removal from society before they target species further up the evolutionary ladder.
But raptor persecution is in a different league. These are apex predators so will never be abundant species, and they are routinely "controlled" by certain "interests". As a result The Hen Harrier is teetering on the edge of extinction as an English breeding species. Red Kites in Northern England aren't doing anywhere near as well as their Chilterns dwelling cousins. We ought to be seeing Golden Eagles outside their remote Highland stronghold but for some reason it never happens.
It is because raptors come in for such heavy assault from humankind that organisatons such as the RSPB have to divert serious resources into their conservation. Even the Government now acknowledges that crime against birds of prey is a serious problem. If evidence emerges that Pied Flycatchers are being shot, trapped and poisoned in large numbers I'm personally confident the the RSPB and others will spring to their defence PDQ.
Every day a little more irate about bird of prey persecution, and I have a cat - Got a problem with that?
Well it is a terrible statistic and crime but compared to apparently 55 million birds killed by cats each year it is a very small number and seems strange bird organisations more or less seem to ignore this problem
Cats are instinctual Sooty, they kill birds because over 1000's of years of domestication they still have not lost the wild part of thier behaviour to hunt.
Most cat owners dont want to see thier cats kill birds and most cats dont want to stay indoors.
Its a weak argument against the facts of humans actually deliberately poisoning and shooting birds of prey.