Scotland's protected birds of prey continue to be illegally killed and trapped with figures being labelled "depressingly consistent".
A new RSPB report has shown that 17 raptors were killed north of the border in 2021 and indicates that those killing the birds are doing so "in more targeted circumstances, using traps and guns, with a concerted effort to tidy up the evidence".
The animals are protected by law, with the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 granting them more recent protection.
The report warned that the registered numbers could be "only the tip of a far larger iceberg" due to undetected killings.
RSPB's Scotland's head of investigations, Ian Thomson, said: "Year after year the patterns of crimes against birds of prey are depressingly consistent.
"Scotland’s raptors are being shot, poisoned, trapped, or their nesting attempts destroyed, where land is intensively managed for driven grouse shooting."
A golden eagle was found deliberately poisoned with pesticides on a grouse moor within the Cairngorms National Park for the second successive year.
The raptor was found dead next to a hare poisoned by the same substance.
The vast majority of the 68 golden eagles that have been illegally killed in Scotland since 1981 were illegally poisoned on grouse moors, the RSPB added.
Raptor persecution also continues to affect the recovery of hen harriers, a rare moorland species for which Scotland is a stronghold.
Last year, satellite tag data showed that three hen harriers disappeared from a small breeding population in southern Scotland in suspicious circumstances.
This indicated they had likely been illegally killed in areas managed for driven grouse shooting, the report indicated.
Mr Thomson added: "We are also seeing satellite-tagged birds disappearing in suspicious circumstances.
"While we have commended steps taken by successive Scottish governments, Police Scotland and NatureScot to try tackle this issue, we have long argued that until the grouse shooting industry was regulated, these crimes will continue.
"This is clearly borne out by the figures we are publishing today.
"With this in mind, we warmly welcome grouse moor licensing being part of the Scottish Government’s current legislative programme and look forward to contributing positively to its progress.”
Meanwhile, RSPB's chief executive Beccy Speight added: "The evidence shows that the illegal persecution of birds of prey - which is time and time again linked to gamebird shooting - is holding back the recovery of some key species.
"This year’s Birdcrime report is another reminder of the appalling methods deployed by some, and why there is a need for swift and effective change in our countryside.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel