Scotland’s raptor persecution rates fall

New ‘progressive’ legislation may be responsible for reducing bird crime.

The number of confirmed instances of raptor persecution in Scotland has dropped well below the long-term average in a trend that conservationists say could be down to new legislation that came into force there in 2012.

There were five known crimes relating to birds of prey in Scotland in 2017, compared with an average of 27 a year over the past five years, according to the RSPB’s latest Birdcrime report. In comparison, there has been no decline in the number of crimes detected in England.

Mark Thomas, from the RSPB Investigations team, says that under the law of vicarious liability, Scottish landowners can be convicted of a crime should their gamekeepers break the law. “The Scottish Government is very progressive,” Thomas adds.

All birds of prey – raptors – are fully protected under UK law, but many are still deliberately killed every year – a total of 68 confirmed incidents in 2017, including the four examples shown above.

But Thomas believes that ‘vicarious liability’ north of the border has deterred estates from trying to poison birds of prey. “All the police have to do now is find poison that’s incorrectly stored, or not legal, and the landowner can be prosecuted,” he points out.

The RSPB says that shooting is now the primary illegal method employed, mainly by gamekeepers, in order to kill raptors. Known victims in 2017 included 22 buzzards, 7 red kites, 3 marsh harriers and 1 hen harrier.

But the RSPB also says that these figures are just the tip of the iceberg. It believes that bringing in vicarious liability – and the licensing of grouse moor estates, which is currently under consideration in Scotland – would help lower persecution rates in England and Wales as well. JF

FIND OUT MORE The Birdcrime Report: rspb.org.uk/birdcrime

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