Work with us — don’t blame us, urges NGO
Shooting organisations blast RSPB report as ‘disingenuous’ and say it should work with them for the good of all Britain’s wild bird species.
Leading fieldsports organisations have blasted the findings of a recent report on crime involving birds of prey.
The report, compiled by the RSPB, claims that bird crime across the UK is increasing “at considerable scale year on year”. But other research shows the conservation status of many birds of prey is improving. The report says it utilises data covering the past 15 years and claims that 1,344 individual birds of prey were persecuted in the UK between 2009 and 2023.
Government data shows red-listed hen harriers reached their highest numbers for more than a century in 2023, while counts undertaken during raptor transect surveys led by the GWCT showed the number of golden eagles tracked over Scottish moorlands appear to have doubled in the past year.
BASC’s Gareth Dockerty said: “We have absolutely zero tolerance for any form of illegal killing of birds of prey. We have stood up and said that before, and we’ll say it again. If any member of BASC was to be found guilty of any wildlife crime, they would be expelled from the organisation.”
Mr Dockerty added that about £500m was put into conservation by the shoot industry every year. This was highlighted by a spokesman for the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation, who insisted that birds of prey were “thriving on land managed for shooting” and its members were achieving “enormous conservation successes”. He added: “It is disappointing that the RSPB will not work together with organisations such as ours, for the good of all bird species.”
Andrew Gilruth, chief executive of the Moorland Association, said: “The press release issued by RSPB is completely disingenuous and bears no reflection on the data contained in their own report. The bird of prey population across the UK is at record highs and, according to the charity’s own data, the number of birds of prey disappearing in ‘confirmed incidents’ is less than 0.01% — how much lower do they expect this to ever get?
“Rather than continue to attack rural communities, why is the charity not celebrating this success? We can only assume it is because this innuendo and obfuscation aids their fundraising efforts.”
The RSPB suggests that a law similar to the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024 — which requires grouse shoots to have a licence to operate — is introduced across the devolved nations. It said shoots of all gamebirds, not only grouse, should require the licence.
