Sita Disappears on a Grouse Moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park
As we reported in our last email newsletter, among the many positive messages from the Yorkshire Dales National Park that we heard in our Skydancer Day broadcast on the 10th of May, we were very sad to hear officially from the RSPB Head of Investigations, Mark Thomas, that one of the four young Hen Harriers that your donations so generously funded – Sita (shown above) – has died in suspicious circumstances on a grouse moor.
According to the Raptor Persecution UK blog, “her tag suddenly and unexpectedly stopped transmitting on 27 February 2025 from a roost site on an unnamed grouse moor.“
Although we were informed by the RSPB, we were unable to release any more detail at the time as it was subject to a police investigation. As of September 2025, we have been advised by DI Mark Harrison of the National Wildlife Crime Unit that, despite being categorised as a suspected crime, North Yorkshire police have closed the enquiry. Neither Sita nor her tag were ever located.
The three other birds in the 2024 cohort – Adar, Binbeal, and Gilda – are all still thriving, as is the only surviving Hen Harrier from the 2023 group – Macha.
Sita fledged from the Forest of Bowland in July last year, and she was named for the Hindu Goddess of self-sacrifice and dedication. She lived for less than nine months, not even long enough to find a mate and attempt breeding.