Controversial raven cull suspended

A controversial licence to cull hundreds of protected ravens to protect threatened wading birds has been suspended after scientists advised its methodology was “inadequate”.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) granted the five-year research licence to the Strathbraan Community Collaboration for Waders (SCCW), in Perthshire, after curlew and lapwing numbers dropped by more than half in only two decades.

The management trial was widely condemned, however, as it allowed up to 69 ravens to be taken this year alone in a bid to relieve predation pressure, with “no scientific justification” according to opponents who also raised a petition with more than 175,000 signatures.

Following concerns, SNH, advisers to the government on all aspects of Scotland’s nature and landscape, commissioned its Scientific Advisory Committee to review the methodology of the study.

Its report, published yesterday, found the methodology to be “inadequate to provide robust scientific conclusions”.

It also advised on ways in which the scientific rigour of the study can be improved.

SNH said it has now agreed to ensure these terms are part of any licensed raven control and that the SCCW had “voluntarily suspended the cull” until revised monitoring arrangements are in place. A specific Scientific Advisory Group will also now be created to assist the project and will include members from the SNH Scientific Advisory Committee, the British Trust for Ornithology and the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust.

The group will advise on further methods and analytical work required, including monitoring the full range of factors which could be impacting wader bird numbers and productivity; developing the way data are collected and analysed – including using cameras to monitor nests -- and making sure that the work is linked to the wider conservation programme Working for Waders.