Today’s RSPB report, Hen Harriers in the firing line, is a timely reminder ahead of Monday’s debate in the Westminster parliament on the future of driven grouse shooting that birds of prey, in this report Hen Harriers, are systematically and illegally killed on grouse moors so that the those enjoying the hobby of shooting Red Grouse for fun can shoot at as many live targets as possible.
Bird of prey persecution, involving eagles, falcons, hawks and kites, is rife in areas dominated by driven grouse shooting. Is it the local postie? The butcher, the baker and any remaining candlestick makers? No! It is upland gamekeepers, perhaps not every one of them, but enough to create holes in distribution maps and low population levels of protected wildlife.
The arguments against driven grouse shooting are many and involve protected habitats, greenhouse gas emissions, smoke pouring into cities from the moors, medication of wild birds, lead ammunition contaminating food, the suffering of legally (and sometimes illegally) killed native predators and carrion eaters (such as Foxes, Stoats, Carrion Crows, Ravens) and increased flood risk.
But the illegal killing of birds of prey is totally shocking. Not just that it exists, not just that it persists at a high level but that it has been going on, in plain view as far as its impacts are concerned, for a generation.
The Protection of Birds Act 1954 happened a few years before I was born – brought in by a Conservative MP, Lady Tweedsmuir, as a Private Member’s Bill. For the whole of my lifetime the entitled have been acting as though they are above the law.
The RSPB’s response to flagrant flouting of wildlife law is to suggest licensing.
The response of the Labour government, so far, has been meagre but a government minister will be on the spot on Monday afternoon. This is an occasion for the Labour government to fall further short on wildlife or to claw back some approval from the wildlife-loving electorate. Which shall we see?
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