The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has published their Birdcrime report today covering confirmed cases of bird of prey persecution in 2021. The chXout® team have read through the report to provide you with a summary of the key points.
All wild birds and their nests are protected by law but this does not seem to be enough. Existing laws appear to be little to no deterrent due to punishments not being used to their full extent. There is a concern that killing is becoming more targeted, especially in Scotland, with a concerted effort to conceal the evidence.
108 incidents of persecution took place in the UK in 2021 which is the second highest number on record after 2020. Sadly, it is considered that this figure is likely to be much higher as these are only the confirmed cases with evidence. The 2020 report confirmed 137 cases which has now risen to 146.
As seen in previous years reports, its seems that there is still a strong connection between raptor persecution and land which is managed for shooting game birds. Figures suggest that 71% of confirmed cases related to shooting estates. Also, of the 5 individuals prosecuted last year – all of them were gamekeepers. The RSPB has advised that the gamebird industry has reached unsustainable levels, with more than 60 million non-native birds released into the countryside each year. This then has a negative impact on native wildlife and habitats.
It appears that in Northern Ireland, bird crime is potentially going undetected with only one confirmed case in 2021. An increase in awareness and the need for reporting is required and a dedicated investigating officer has been appointed.
Hen Harriers
Hen Harriers are one of the rarest breeding birds of prey in
the UK. They are disappearing under suspicious circumstances with no evidence of
malfunction to the tracking tags they are fitted with. Shockingly it is
reported that in 2019, 42 out of 58 birds fitted with these tags were
killed or disappeared suddenly.
Progress
Increased partnership with police operations. Police officers and statutory agencies are being trained in detecting and enforcing raptor persecution.
In Scotland (since 2012) landowners can be prosecuted if employees break the law and this seems to be making a difference in conjunction with satellite tagging, causing a decrease in detected poisonings.
There is an increased effort in satellite tagging in attempt to provide further protection and detect crime.
The RSPB investigations team has increased resources and a growing team.
Urgent action needed
The introduction of licences for driven grouse shooting to ensure that estates operate to legal standards.
Introduction of additional regulation for pheasant and partridge shooting to decrease the number of game birds released to environmentally sustainable levels.
Better general licence conditions are required particularly surrounding the use of cage traps.
Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.