FIRECREST TOURS : Guided Birdwatching & Wildlife Days

You’ve got to listen to this. It’s the funniest nine minutes of car crash radio you’ll have heard for a long time. It’s Ian Botham, being interviewed on BBC Five Live this morning, talking about how the public spirited game shooting industry is planning to donate thousands of lead-poisoned pheasants and partridges to the poor […] Read in full at Raptor Persecution UK http://ift.tt/2vludSn

On the eve of the open season (1st August) for killing mountain hares in Scotland, animal welfare charity OneKind has published a new report outlining concerns about the scale of this slaughter taking place on Scottish grouse moors. The report can be downloaded here: mountain hares persecution report Onekind 2017 The report provides a good summary […] Read in full at Raptor Persecution UK http://ift.tt/2vWtB2m

A few days ago we wrote a blog about what appeared to be a bin full of dead mountain hares being used as bait in a stink pit bin on a grouse moor in the Peak District National Park (see here). The blog stimulated a lot of comments about the identification of the species in […] Read in full at Raptor Persecution UK http://ift.tt/2u7zuI8

Last week we wrote a series of blogs updating what we know about the proposed controversial ‘reintroduction’ of hen harriers to southern England. In one of those blogs (here) we included an email from Jeff Knott (RSPB) to Simon Lees (Hen Harrier Southern Reintroduction Project Manager, Natural England) that included the following muddled sentence: “While […] Read in full at Raptor Persecution UK http://ift.tt/2u1GaaE

Some of you will be very familiar with the name of sporting agent Mark Osborne. He is feted within the grouse-shooting industry for his ability to turn a ‘poorly performing’ grouse moor in to “something beyond the moor owner’s wildest dreams” (e.g. see here). Some of you may be more familiar with the names of some of […] Read in full at Raptor Persecution UK http://ift.tt/2eNEGis

The ability for SNH to impose a General Licence restriction order on land where there is evidence of raptor persecution taking place came in to force on 1 January 2014. This measure, based on a civil burden of proof, was introduced by then Environment Minister Paul Wheelhouse in response to the continuing difficulties of meeting […] Read in full at Raptor Persecution UK http://ift.tt/2tYS595

Earlier this month a group called the Hunt Investigation Team (HIT) released disturbing footage they’d filmed during the spring on the Moscar Estate, a grouse-shooting estate in the Peak District National Park (see here). The footage included masked men, purportedly gamekeepers, snaring badgers and mountain hares. Derbyshire Constabulary is currently investigating the group’s claims. HIT […] Read in full at Raptor Persecution UK http://ift.tt/2uATGnG