Bird of prey crimes up in 2015

Twenty bird of prey crimes were recorded in 2015 including six poisoning incidents, according to the latest bird of prey crime maps.

The maps by the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime (PAW) Scotland show a slight increase from 2014 which saw 18 bird of prey crimes recorded.

The birds involved in these incidents include buzzards, red kites, peregrine falcons, goshawks, osprey and a hen harrier. Poisoning was the most frequently recorded bird of prey crime, but there were also five shootings, five cases of disturbance, three trapping or attempted trapping offences and one chick theft.

A new map showing the locations of other poison baits has also been published. This map includes six poisoning abuse incidents over a five year period from 2011-2015 where no bird of prey was confirmed poisoned, but where the type and location of the bait, and the type of poison used could pose a serious threat to these birds.

Environment minister Aileen McLeod said: “Whilst these figures only show a small increase in the number of crimes against birds of prey over the last year, it is very disappointing not to see a decrease in the number of incidents.

“In 2012 we implemented the vicarious liability provisions in relation to offences involving wild birds and last year we secured the second conviction under these provisions. Last year, we also funded the free pesticide disposal scheme which removed over 700kg of illegally held poisons in Scotland, to allow those still in possession of illegal substances to have them removed.”

Ian Thomson, RSPB Scotland’s head of investigations said: “These latest figures make it readily apparent that claims of a decline in the illegal killing of raptors are wholly without foundation. A growing weight of peer-reviewed scientific research gives clear evidence that the persecution of golden eagles, peregrines and hen harriers is widespread in many upland areas of eastern and southern Scotland. It is long overdue that the criminal targeting of protected raptors was consigned to history.”

Tim Baynes, director of the Scottish Moorland Group of Scottish Land & Estates, said: “As members of PAW Scotland, we support the publication of official data on all wildlife crime. While there was not a further decrease in raptor crimes overall in 2015, annual variations are now very small.

“Poisoning incidents are now 40 per cent down on four years ago and now stand at six cases across the whole of Scotland. The 2015 figures show that the numbers of birds shot has roughly halved over the last three years. The biggest rise was in incidents of disturbance, with two known to be related to ospreys.

“We reiterate our condemnation of any raptor crime, whatever the reason, and will continue to work with other PAW Scotland partners to try to ensure that it will become a thing of the past. We were encouraged that in 2015 there were at least two known instances of gamekeepers on our member estates taking injured red kites to vets.”