Falconer flying high after petition saves ancient practice

Barry Blyther, who runs Elite Falconry in Kirkcaldy, petitioned the Scottish Parliament to retain the rights of falconers to practice upland falconry in Scotland – a specialised form of hunting using trained birds of prey to catch wild game, such as mountain hares, in high-altitude open landscapes. He argued legislation protecting mountain hares would be detrimental to the 4,000-year-old practice and the welfare of his birds.

However, thanks to his petition and a wider campaign, he’s successfully achieved a change in the law.

Giving evidence to the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee, Mr Blyther – who owns two golden eagles – told MSPs that the new protections brought in by the Animals and Wildlife Act 2020 meant he and other falconers would face prosecution if their raptor acted on their natural instincts.

He said: “The heritage art of falconry has been practised around the world for at least 4000 years and is recognised by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

“The purpose of the legislation was to prevent mass culls of tens of thousands of hares in Scotland each year on organised shoots.

“The legislation was flawed. Falconry was snagged as an unintended bycatch. From the conservation, animal welfare and democratic angles, it was a travesty.

“It was unfair and unjustifiable that a piece of legislation brought into law to address a totally different issue, had the side effect of making the sustainable and legitimate branch of falconry illegal.”

The petition, which was first lodged in 2021 as part of a wider campaign led by Mr Blyther, attracted more than 9,000 signatures.

As well as attending Holyrood to give evidence to the Petitions Committee and to support his petition from the public gallery, Mr Blyther also brought 23-year-old golden eagle Stanley into Holyrood to meet MSPs.

Convinced by the petition’s merit, the committee set out to gather more information on the petition’s aims, writing to various organisations including the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, the RSPB and NatureScot, as well as the relevant government minister, Police Scotland and the Crown Office.

Pressure from the committee along with Mr Blyther’s wider campaigning work meant that the Natural Environment Bill was amended, allowing falconers to apply for a specific licence to take mountain hares for the purposes of falconry.

Mr Blyther said: “The fact that a humble citizen like me can take the government to task on things they need to do, or correct things they got wrong, is a wonderful part of the constitution. The existence of the Petitions Committee is what allowed me to correct the wrong done to falconers. Scotland should be proud of this system.”