FIRECREST TOURS : Guided Birdwatching & Wildlife Days

By Guy Shorrock The illegal taking of this Northern Goshawk Accipiter gentilis and related offences in Scotland led to the first jailing of a gamekeeper. RSPB-images.com In recent years it appears that there has been an increasing public interest and involvement in environmental matters, including wildlife crime, and that social media has played a pivotal role in this trend. As a plethora of internet-based sharing sites have continued to develop, websites and bloggers have taken full advantage of this communication network. The power of social media was graphically illustrated by the recent campaign to challenge the European Commission's 'Fitness Check' of the Birds and Habitats Directives, legislation that has underpinned EU environmental protection. In May 2015, around 100 UK organisations published a position statement warning that this was the single biggest threat to biodiversity in a generation. That view was shared across Europe with collaboration...

Evidence is emerging of what looks to be a pretty comprehensive police cover-up of the mass poisoning of birds of prey in the Powys region of Wales. According to the RSPB’s annual  Birdcrime  report (2012), the following incidents are listed: Oct 2012: 1 x pheasant bait (Bendiocarb), location: Powys. Oct 2012: 1 x pheasant bait (Bendiocarb), location: Powys. Oct 2012: 2 x pheasant bait (Bendiocarb), location: Powys. Oct 2012: 1 x poisoned red kite (Bendiocarb), location: Powys. This little cluster is of interest, but becomes of even greater interest when you look at the RSPB’s annual  Birdcrime  report (2013), where the following incidents are listed:

PC Helen Felton and RSPB's Head of Investigations Bob Elliot with illegally killed buzzards (RSPB) Colin Burne, of Winters Park, Penrith, has today pleaded guilty to the intentional killing of buzzards on land managed by a private shooting syndicate in Whinfell Forest, near Penrith, Cumbria. The 64-year old gamekeeper attended Carlisle Magistrates Court today where he pleaded guilty to three charges. These related to the killing of two buzzards on the 11 February 2013, killing five buzzards prior to this date and possession of a wooden stick as an item capable of being used to kill the birds. He received a 70-day jail sentence, concurrent on each charge, suspended for 12 months.  In sentencing, the Judge stated that had it not been for his ill health he would have considered jailing him. On Monday 11 February, this year, a cage trap containing live buzzards was found by members of the public on land managed by the shoot. Cage traps can lawfully be used to control certa...