Nobody
likes to see birds of prey being persecuted. Now, following Scotland’s
introduction of a new offence that makes landowners responsible for the actions
of their employees, including gamekeepers, the RSPB is backing a petition
designed to force the Coalition Government to legislate.
100,000
signatures will automatically trigger a debate in the House of Commons and
demonstrate support for a Criminal Vicarious Liability law. This would help
ensure those who direct or ignore persecution of birds of prey can be held to
account through criminal proceedings.
The
Scottish Parliament took action following a number of high profile cases where
golden eagle’s had been poisoned. Between 1989 and 2011, the RSPB has
calculated that, at least, 50 of these iconic birds have been shot or poisoned.
The majority of deaths have occurred in the Central, Northern and Southern
Highlands, where driven grouse shooting is far more commercially viable than in
other regions of the country.
Over
the border, grouse shooting is also driving the hen harrier, one of England’s
best-known birds of prey, towards extinction.
Ornithologists
have long enjoyed the sky dancing courtship displays by the male, a beautiful
pearly grey with distinctive black wingtips and smaller than the rich brown
coloured female with a distinctive white rump.
Yet
with less than 10 pairs breeding annually its future remains uncertain,
although “we estimate that England’s uplands and moorlands could support 323
pairs” reports Jude Lane, the RSPB’s project officer on the United Utilities’
Forest of Bowland estate near Clitheroe – where the RSPB and United Utilities
have collaborated to protect the hen harrier since 1982.
Typical Hen Harrier habitat |
At
just 24,000 acres this relatively small area is utilised by United Utilities to
control the flow and quality of water into their reservoirs. Upland sheep
farmers and those who provide shooting facilities are tenants on the estate.
Nevertheless “there were seven nesting attempts in 2011, of which four were
successful and 12 birds were reared” explains Jude, who during the nesting
season from March to July is assisted by a dedicated team of experienced
volunteers keen to ensure the breeding birds remain undisturbed.
Bowland
Forest – the word ‘forest’ being used in its historical sense of a royal
hunting ground – is an area of deep valleys and barren gritstone fells. Its
peat heather moorland is perfect not only for hen harriers but also the Red
Grouse. The latter are specially reared for shooting, traditionally starting on
the (in) ‘Glorious Twelfth’ of August. Bags of between eighty and two hundred a
day are offered for those who can afford, depending upon the location, between
£160 and £1,500.
The
Duke of Westminster 19,000 acre Abbeystead estate in the Forest of Bowland
still holds the record for a single days shoot, when 2929 grouse were shot on
August 12th 1915. Today, the estate organises around 30 shoots
annually and visitors are helped get there by the Bowland Forest road signs
depicting a hen harrier. Not that they would see any such bird on the Duke’s
land, even though the habitat is no different to that found on the nearby
United Utilities estate. On Dartmoor and Exmoor in southwest England it’s a
similar story, plenty of grouse but only a handful of hen harriers.
Landowners
deny killing hen harriers and the British Association for Shooting and
Conservation has promised to expel any of its members found guilty of doing so.
Proving that has been the case isn’t easy. It was the RSPB’s work that helped
establish wildlife crime officers posts and they have long campaigned for more.
Yet even those appointed “usually do it part-time, with cases at the edge of
their desk” says Bob Elliot, Head of Investigations at the RSPB, which is the
largest wildlife conservation charity in Europe with over one million members
and 17,600 volunteers.
As
such the majority of the reported incidents - totalling 227 in 2010 - of
illegal shooting, trapping and nest destruction of birds of prey are the result
of initial reports from members of the organisation. Two-thirds originated in
England and a quarter in Scotland. The RSPB meanwhile believes the number of
unreported incidents is likely to be considerable higher.
Prosecutions
are relatively rare. In 2010 there were only 49 individual cases totalling 242
charges,
of which 182 were proven. Fourteen people were given prison sentences, of which
eleven were suspended ones.
Elliot
would like to see prosecutions becoming even rarer but “only if we see people
changing their behaviour and practices such that we see rare species
re-occupying spaces they should be in.”
Unconvinced
that’s going to happen soon he welcomes the new legislation that came into
force in Scotland on January 1st this year. He’s aware that it has
already forced a review of practices at some shooting locations, with land
owners and managers now needing to be able to show they did not know about a
wildlife bird crime and took all reasonable steps and due diligence to prevent
it. New snaring provisions mean operators must successfully complete a training
course and next year all snares will need to be fitted with an ID tag and
number.
“The
RSPB is neutral on the issue of shooting, but with these beautiful birds
continuing to be killed on moors then it is time for the Government in
Westminster to follow Scotland and adopt similar legislation. We welcome the
petition that has been set up by Chrissie Harper and will be urging our members
to support it. I hope Unite agricultural members will do the same” said Elliot,
who also reported that a ten year pilot project designed to see if hen harriers
can be diverted from feeding on grouse by supplying them with white mice and
rats is “going well.”
“Birds
of prey such as Peregrine, Red Kite, Goshawk, White-tailed eagle are really
stunning species. They are part of our natural heritage, have been around for
thousands of years and have just as much right as ourselves to exist” says Jude
Lane.
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