A Review of Bird of Prey Persecution in Scotland 2001

PERSECUTION A review of bird of prey persecution in Scotland in 2001 Produced by RSPB Scotland A Review of Bird of Prey Persecution in Scotland 2001 28 January 2003 wpo\ab\BOP1\5232 Birds of Prey Report 2001 Contents 1 Preamble 2 2 Recommendations 2 3 Introduction 3 4 Poisoning 4 5 Direct persecution other than poisoning 5 6 Investigation and prosecution 7 Poisoning incidents 7 Incidents other than poisoning 8 7 Discussion of the general nature of persecution offences8 The law 8 Comparative distribution of 2001 and past incidents 9 Published material that indicates likely offenders 10 Prosecutions 11 8 Identifiable trends in persecution 12 9 Conclusions 12 10 Acknowledgements 13 11 Appendices and Maps 13 Appendix A 13 Appendix B 15 Appendix C 15 Appendix D 18 Table 2 18 Map 1 23 Map 2 24 Map 3 25 Map 4 26 1 Birds of Prey Report 2001 1 Preamble The deliberate destruction of Scotland’s birds of prey has been a prominent issue for many decades. The practice of eliminating all the possible predators of game on shooting estates was a routine procedure in the 19th century with little or no regard to the conservation status of the targeted animals. This resulted in national and regional extinctions of a number of predatory birds and other animals. Many of these extirpated species have made significant recoveries in recent years either through natural re-colonisation or through re- introduction by humans. This implies a reduction in killing sufficient to allow these recoveries or facilitate re-introductions. This generally positive trend has not been universal. The situation for some species of birds of prey and some regions of Scotland suggests that 19th century attitudes and practices are still firmly entrenched amongst a proportion of Scotland’s 21st century land managers. 2 Recommendations The better enforcement of wildlife legislation and the strengthening of the law in relation to the protection of species subject to persecution remains a priority. It is recommended: that the Scottish Executive expedite their declared intention to: i amend the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 via the current Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill to allow: an appropriate power of arrest to enable police officers to deal more effectively with offences; courts to have the option of imposing custodial sentences where appropriate; ii bring a Natural Heritage (Scotland) Bill before the Scottish Parliament at the earliest opportunity to implement their declared policy in the consultation document The Nature of Scotland: A Policy Statementi including: that reckless actions that threaten wildlife should be treated in the same way as intentional actions. 2 Birds of Prey Report 2001 These recommendations are also fully in line with those of the Partnership for Action against Wildlife Crime (Scotland) (PAWS) and with recommendation 7 of the UK Raptor Working Groupii which urges enhanced enforcement of existing legislation to eliminate the illegal killing of birds of prey; We also recommend: iii that a change to the regulatory mechanism for agricultural pesticides is introduced to reduce the ease with which they are available for criminal use (in line with Recommendation 6 of the UK Raptor Working Group2 and as proposed for consideration in The Nature of Scotland: A Policy Statement1); iv that the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department (SEERAD) strengthens the effectiveness of their work against wildlife crime by: providing further, regular and fuller training of local officers authorised under the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985, with special emphasis on standard investigative techniques and to encourage regular and close liaison with police Wildlife Liaison Officers (WLOs). 3 Introduction This is the eighth annual account of bird of prey persecution in Scotland. It describes the extent of the known criminal destruction of birds of prey in Scotland during 2001. The number of crimes revealed must be regarded a minimum figure. By their very nature these crimes are some of the most difficult to record, quantify and detect. Much bird of prey persecution takes place in remote areas on private ground, circumstances where direct witnesses are scarce and may find themselves placed in personally difficult situations if they wish to testify to what they know or have seen. Material evidence is likewise easily concealed or destroyed by the perpetrators and much of it must never come to light. During 2001 this situation may have been exacerbated by the outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD) which effectively closed the British countryside for much of the year and made the discovery of many wildlife crimes nearly impossible. There has been speculation that FMD provided an opportunity for a massive increase in – among other things – illegal bird of prey killing. This must remain as speculation. The available data cannot be used to prove or disprove this suggestion. The number and nature of the incidents discovered vary substantially from year to year in any case - for reasons that are not always immediately clear – and attributing differences between 2000 and 2001 to FMD-related factors cannot be done with any objective rigour. 3 Birds of Prey Report 2001 One feature of the 2001 data does stand out. During the year a total of ten red kites were confirmed to have been poisoned. This is unprecedented. It is more than double the number of poisoned kites ever recorded in a single previous year (four birds poisoned each year in 1997, 1998 and 2000). The scale of this destruction prompted an examination of kite mortality and poisoning which concluded that up to a third of all Scottish red kites may have died this way. This is discussed in more detail within the report. It is very worrying that a bird such as the red kite - which poses no significant threat to any land-use interest – should be persecuted in this way. This indicates a level of profound ignorance on the part of the perpetrators of these crimes that does not bode well for Scotland’s rarer and more threatened birds of prey. As with the preceding years’ reports, threats to raptors are quantified under two main headings, these being: • the use of poisons • direct persecution, i.e. shooting and trapping. 4 Poisoning In addition to • actual cases of poisoned raptors we also consider • incidents where only a poison bait was found and the victim (if any) was not identified • incidents where the victim was not a bird of prey but the location and circumstances put birds of prey at risk. Any poison bait used in the open within habitat used by birds of prey has the potential to kill those birds. This is true regardless of the intentions of the poisoner. Poisoning may be considered the greatest potential threat of all. In contrast to shooting and to much trapping activity, which requires a sustained effort by the criminal concerned to produce a limited return, poisoning can produce a substantial effect with only minimal effort. Poison baits continue to be lethal over a matter of days or weeks and can kill multiple victims without further effort by the poisoner. Reports of poisoning received by RSPB Scotland are summarised in Appendix A. The distribution of these incidents in 2001 is included in Map 1 together with other persecution incidents during the year. 4 Birds of Prey Report 2001 Of particular note during 2001 was the unprecedented poisoning of 10 red kites. RSPB Scotland’s analysis of the history of red kite mortality since the current re-introduction began strongly indicates that over one third (36%) of the total population of reintroduced red kites may have been illegally poisoned. This estimate is drawn from the detailed figures for mortality and disappearance in the reintroduced populations in The Black Isle and Stirling-shire. The basis for this estimate is further explained in Appendix B. Even more telling than the Scottish figures alone is the comparison with one of the reintroduced populations of red kites in southern England. Although the same number of birds (93) were released in the Chilterns area of southern England and the Black Isle over a similar period in the late 80s and early 90s, the population in the Chilterns is now more than three times higher than that of north Scotland. By 2000, the kite population in the Chilterns was around 109 breeding pairs, markedly higher than that of the Inverness area where only 33 pairs attempted to nest. It is notable that the north Scotland population has grown by only three pairs in the 1999-2000 period while in the Chilterns the population has increased by over 34 pairs. This is despite very similar levels of productivity in each population. Recorded levels of persecution are lower in England with 10% of kites reintroduced in the Chilterns being killed in criminal incidents. It seems very likely that higher persecution levels – especially poisoning – in Scotland are the principal reason for the marked differences in the rate of population increase between north Scotland and southern England. Three of the poisoned kites found in 2001 were on one land holding in Inverness-shire. A fourth poison incident – a group of poison baits – was also on this land together with two spring traps set in the open. Collectively these incidents represent the most sustained raptor persecution effort discovered during the year. A fourth kite found poisoned in the area is likely to have been a related incident. Carbofuran continued to dominate in 2001 as the most frequently abused pesticide in illegal poison incidents. The withdrawal of approval for this substance as a legitimate pesticide (from 31 December 2001) will presumably have a knock-on effect on its illegal use in due course. Alpha-chloralose was the only other substance involved in cases during the year.

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