The Northern England Raptor Forum Response to Defra's Call for Evidence is Powerful and Compelling
Last week the Northern England Raptor Forum, a coalition of the ten regional raptor study groups covering Northern England from the Peak District to the Scottish Borders, submitted to Defra and published its response to the Call for Evidence on the impact of gamebird shooting.
It is a compelling and convincing document, well-argued and packed with examples of cases illustrating that raptor persecution is still widespread, despite the claims by the shooting industry that it has cleaned up its act and is capable of ‘self-policing’.
The 10-page document is well worth reading in full (access it here), but we have reproduced some extracts below that make especially powerful points. Congratulations to Steve Downing and NERF for a powerful submission.
"The industry is awash with bad apples and they spread their raptor killing tentacles far and wide"
Perhaps the most pertinent question is, should people such as those responsible for killing the Red Kite and the Marsh Harrier (cases cited earlier in the document), have access to firearms in the first place? The shooting community will trot out the ‘it must have been a bad apple’ defence – again. Be under no illusion that the statistics tell a different story. The industry is awash with bad apples and they spread their raptor killing tentacles far and wide.
One major barrier to reducing raptor persecution emanates from those in the industry who denounce bird of prey crime failing to name and shame the individuals and estates who treat killing protected species as just another day in the office. Just claiming to be the ‘custodians of the countryside’ without backing up those words by taking affirmative action is meaningless and also threatens their own industry.
"It is not only the individual dead birds of prey that are victims. Society at large, deprived of seeing these birds in the wild, or even just knowing that they exist, is also a victim..."
For decades NERF members have recorded raptor persecution on both upland grouse shooting estates and lowland pheasant, red-legged partridge and waterfowl shooting estates that are often under the same ownership and management. Buzzards, Red Kites, Goshawk, Peregrines, Hen Harriers, Marsh Harriers and Short-eared Owls together with Raven are killed relentlessly on some shooting estates because they are perceived to be a threat to the profitability of the estate.
It is not only the individual dead birds of prey that are victims. Society at large, deprived of seeing these birds in the wild, or even just knowing that they exist, is also a victim and there is ample evidence to support this, posted by individuals on social media in which they express both anger and mental anguish every time a new case is reported. In addition to the individual and societal loss there is a significant environmental loss. There is also a plethora of scientific evidence to show that the removal of top predators can produce a catastrophic trophic imbalance that cannot easily be rectified by reintroductions.
"Clearly self-policing by the shooting industry is not working and legislation is not adequate to deal with the problem."
Raptor persecution is widespread throughout England on both upland and lowland shooting estates. Birds have been poisoned, trapped, shot, caught in cage traps and battered to death. Hen Harrier nests have also been destroyed, eggs have been crushed in their nests, chicks have been stamped and stabbed to death in their nests, adult males have disappeared whilst they were servicing a sitting female, satellite tagged birds have been recovered after being shot, one had its head torn off whilst still alive. others have disappeared without trace even when their
tags were working perfectly well.
Clearly self-policing by the shooting industry is not working and legislation is not adequate to deal with the problem. As with the opportunity to make meaningful changes to the management of land used for game shooting this ‘call for evidence’ also offers the opportunity to address the criminality associated with game shooting.