Suspicion as tagged hen harrier disappears
● One-year-old male is fourth of the raptors lost since lockdown
A satellite-tagged hen harrier has been reported missing in the south of Scotland, becoming the fourth of the species to vanish since lockdown began.
C o n s e r va t i o n i s t s f e a r t h e bird of prey has become a victim of wildlife crime.
The last known location of the one-year-old male, named Fingal, was near Thornhill, in Dumfries and Galloway – in an area of moorland managed for game bird shooting.
Police Scotland carried out a search of the area but found no trace of Fingal or his tag, whi c h h a s n o t t r a n s mi t t e d since 19 May.
Hen harriers are among the most persecuted raptor species in the UK.
Their diet consists mainly of small mammals, but they also eat other birds – including grouse.
When a satellite tagged bird
dies of natural causes, its tag u s u a l l y c o n t i n u e s to t r a n smit – allowing the body to be recovered.
Conser vationists claim the failure of four “highly reliable” hen harrier tags in similar cir
cumstances would be unlikely and “strongly suggests human interference”.
Fingal takes the total number of hen harriers known to have gone missing in suspicious circumstances or confirmed
to have b een illegally killed across the UK to 45 since 2018.
H i s d i s a p p e a r a n c e h a s prompted renewed calls for Scotland to urgently bring in a licensing scheme for grouse estates in a bid to help stamp out illegal killing of protected birds of prey.
“This has become a depressingly familiar stor y,” said Ian Thomson, head of investigation for RSPB Scotland.
“Yet again a satellite-tagged bird of prey has disappeared s u d d e n l y a n d i n ex p l i c a b l y on a grouse moor and is presumed killed.
“These birds will continue to disappear until grouse shooting estates are licensed.”
But landowners and gamekeepers have hit back, accusing RSPB Scotland of smearing reputations for a “political objective”.
The final signals from Fingal’s tag came from an area leased and managed by land business Buccleuch.
B enny Hig gins, executive chairman of Buccleuch, said he was “concerned” by implic a t i o n s t h a t t h e b i r d h a d come to harm at the hands of the firm’s gamekeeping team.
“We condemn any incident o f wi l d l i f e c r i me a n d f u l l y supp or t Police S cotland in their work i n d e a l i n g wi t h such incidents,” he said.
“B u c c l e u c h i s e x t r e m e l y proud of our record in recent years in trying to rebuild the hen harrier population, hosting several nests on our land.
“There has been no suggestion that any of our game - keeping staff were involved in this incident nor were even questioned by police.”