Concern as rare hen harrier goes missing from the Yorkshire Dales

A SEARCH has been launched after a rare bird of prey went missing in rural North Yorkshire.

Fears have been raised over the safety of female hen harrier Mabel, one of four chicks that fledged in July in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Police have launched an appeal for information about the whereabouts of the bird, which was fitted with a satellite tag by Natural England.

Hen harriers are among the UK’s rarest birds, with just three successful nests recorded in England last year, and are legally protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act. Police said the last signal from the tag was received from the Little Smale Gill area of Cumbria, north of Ravenseat Moor, on October 2.

Sergeant Stuart Grainger, of North Yorkshire Police’s Rural Taskforce, said: “I was lucky enough to spend some time monitoring Mabel’s nest site, and, despite following birds all my life, this was the very first time I’d ever seen a male or female hen harrier because they are so rare.

“It is therefore particularly upsetting that one of the fledglings from the nest has inexplicably gone missing.

A spokesperson for Natural England added: “The sudden disappearance of the hen harrier, Mabel, is a matter of grave concern.”

Anyone with information should contact North Yorkshire Police on 101 of the RSPB’s Raptor Crime Hotline on 0300 9990101.