stopping illegal bird killings

By Finlay Sleath

The RSPB has released its Bird Crime Report 2023, and if like me you are a nature lover then it’s not a fun read. It covers all confirmed incidents against birds of prey in the UK over the last 15 years, and the standout figure is that in that period 1344 birds have been killed. This, the RSPB argues, shows that not enough is being done to prevent these crimes. They have received some criticism for the report, but we’ll get into that later – first, let’s go through the basics.

What’s in the report?

Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (and in NI, the Wildlife Order 1985) it is illegal to kill or harm any bird of prey in the UK. However, in the last 15 years, 586 buzzards, 270 red kites, 154 peregrines, and 51 golden eagles have indeed been killed (as well as many white-tailed eagles, goshawks, and hen harriers, which were in fact the most persecuted bird as compared to population size). Many of these birds have been brought back from the brink of extinction in the UK due to decades of work by dedicated conservationists, so this is incredibly tragic.

The main force driving these crimes, according to the report, is by far the game shooting industry, i.e. landowners charging clients to shoot grouse or pheasant or partridge on their large estates. The higher the density of these gamebirds on an estate, the more profit a landowner can expect to make.

Unfortunately, since many raptors will kill these gamebirds, it seems that the pressure to create high densities of gamebirds is leading gamekeepers to shoot or trap or poison these birds (as well as others which are very unlikely to threaten gamebirds at all, such as barn owls and kestrels).

We know this because most incidents of crime against birds of prey are discovered on or near game-shooting estates. In the last 15 years 75% of people convicted for such crimes have been connected to the game-shooting industry. However, convictions are very rare – on average, there have been only 4 convictions a year, even though a bird of prey is killed on average once every four days. What’s more, these convictions generally result in nothing but a small fine as punishment. This, the RSPB argues, does not provide an adequate deterrent.

It should also be said that many of these game-shooting estates are remote and isolated places – when a raptor is killed, there will likely be no witnesses to the crime, and the evidence can be easily destroyed. As can be seen in footage released by the RSPB earlier this year, gamekeepers also know to avoid killing raptors with radio tags attached. All of this means that the true number of birds being killed is likely much higher than the figure given by the report.

What needs to be done?

There is hope! In March this year, Scotland introduced the Wildlife Management and Muirburn Act. This means that if evidence of a wildlife crime is discovered on a shooting estate, then that estate’s license to host shoots can be withdrawn. As a much bigger financial risk to the landowner than a small one-off fine, this will hopefully help to reduce raptor persecution. No such law exists in the rest of the UK, however, where far more birds are killed, so it’s for this that the RSPB is now pushing.

Why has the report been criticised?

There has been pushback to this report. Roger Draycott of the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust says that the report ‘clouds the positive conservation work done by game managers across the country, including the work to help raptors.’ The fact that raptor numbers are still increasing year on year is brought up by the director of moorland for Scottish Land and Estates, Ross Ewing, who also says that ‘what the RSPB determines to be a ‘confirmed incident’ is not necessarily a view shared by the police.’

The observation about ‘confirmed incidents’ is true – the RSPB includes cases where traps or poisoned baits have been found, even if this has not led to a confirmed bird death. However, it seems to me that such incidents should certainly be included in the report, as they still represent a direct attempt at a wildlife crime (and may well have killed a raptor if they had gone undiscovered).

It’s also true that some game shooting estates have aided conservation work (the Rottal Estate is in fact mentioned by the report as having helped with the translocation of a golden eagle), and that bird of prey numbers overall are on the rise in the UK. But this is a report on crimes against birds of prey – it seems reasonable that the focus is on birds being killed, rather than birds that have survived. And the evidence does clearly point to game shooting being the root cause of the majority of the crime: this is fact, not judgement, and the report is right to make this clear.

How can I help?

The RSPB is campaigning that Westminster introduce a bill similar to the one passed in Scotland earlier this year. There is a donations page on their website. It is crucial that if you believe you have witnessed a crime against a bird of prey taking place that you report it to the police. There are detailed instructions for doing this on the RSPB website, but to summarise: keep yourself safe, contact the police, note what is happening, take photos and videos of suspects and vehicles involved, and do not interfere with the evidence or post your footage on social media.

My own advice

Take every chance you can to communicate your love for these incredible birds to the people around you, especially if they are strangers. You never know what circles people move in and whether they are having doubts about their own habits or those of the people around them. If you can inspire an appreciation of how lucky we are to be able to see these birds in our skies again after so many decades of absence, it might just carry across to someone who can make a difference. It’s also possible that some who enjoy game shooting have no idea of the damage that is done in order to compete for their money.

Anger is a completely understandable response to wildlife crime, and it’s certainly a response I relate to. While it may be tempting to brand all shooting estates as anti-wildlife, this is in fact not the case. There are many cases of brilliant wildlife conservation that happen on shooting estates and it is a shame that the actions of some have tarnished the good work of others. Game-shooting has a long cultural history and many communities are formed around it – building bridges between communities can help to work towards a future where wildlife and people can thrive. Lets keep celebrating the incredible wildlife that can be found across our countryside and build policies and practices that will help to protect it.