A sporting estate whose ban from shooting or trapping wild birds has been extended for a further two years has said it is considering an appeal against the ruling.
Scottish Government conservation body NatureScot has said that the restriction on "general licenses" at the Leadhills Estate in South Lanarkshire will now last until 2023 after additional evidence was uncovered
However, a spokesman for Leadhills has questioned the justification for the extra two-year prohibition, saying that it has not been shown the evidence behind the decision.
READ MORE: Sporting estate has an on killing wild birds extended after fresh evidence uncovered
The the killing of wild birds has been prohibited on the esate since 2019 in response to police evidence of crimes against wild birds occurring on the land.
This included signs of the illegal killing of raptors, chiefly three hen harriers, one short-eared owl and two buzzards, and the illegal disturbance of a wild bird nest.
A hen harrier in flight
Leadhills Estate encompasses approximately 19,500 acres, mixed between farming and grouse moors. It is owned by two Trusts, the Leadhills Trust and Glengeith Trust.
The estate's spokesman said: “The estate is extremely disappointed by this decision and is actively considering an appeal against it.
"We have yet to see the evidence leading to this decision and have been requesting this information from the relevant authorities.
"Without that evidence, we question the justification for such a decision, which is likely to have an impact on wildlife on the estate."
READ MORE: Golden Eagle 'intentionally poisoned' found dead on Invercauld Estate
General licences are granted to landowners or land managers to carry out actions which would otherwise be illegal, including controlling common species of wild birds to protect crops or livestock.
The spokesman added: "There has been no commercial driven grouse shooting on the estate for several years and the moorland is managed on a care and maintenance basis.
"The estate has a zero tolerance approach to wildlife crime and has robust compliance systems in place.
"Employees are fully aware of their responsibilities with regard to the conservation of wildlife and we are confident that wildlife crimes have not been committed by anyone employed on the estate.”
Why are you making commenting on HeraldScotland 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