RSPB Hen Harrier press release – Mark Avery

Six more rare Hen Harriers vanish on or near grouse moors with another confirmed poisoned

• Seven RSPB satellite tagged Hen Harriers are suspected or confirmed to have been illegally killed in England on or near land managed for grouse shooting in 2025 – with three in just thirteen days.
• Hen Harriers are a protected, Red-listed species of high conservation concern with illegal killing widely recognised as the main cause for their vulnerable status.
• To prevent and deter these crimes and ensure the recovery of Hen Harriers in England the RSPB is urgently calling for the introduction of licensing of all gamebird shooting across the UK.

In 2025, it is suspected that a total of seven RSPB satellite-tagged Hen Harriers were illegally killed on or near grouse moors in northern England, with one Hen Harrier confirmed poisoned and six more disappearing in suspicious circumstances – all sending their final transmission on or near land managed for grouse shooting.

All incidents were quickly reported to the police and National Wildlife Crime Unit’s Hen Harrier Taskforce. Obtaining evidence of Hen Harrier killing and bringing prosecutions is extremely difficult but Police investigations continue.

To monitor Hen Harrier movements and survival, RSPB and Natural England have been tagging Hen Harrier chicks for over 15 years. These highly reliable satellite tags normally continue to transmit even when a bird dies. However, as multiple incidents have shown, many tags have suddenly and suspiciously stopped transmitting on or near grouse moors without sign of malfunction. Evidence – including peer reviewed data, intelligence reports and forensic analysis – indicate that it is highly likely that in these circumstances the Hen Harrier’s tag has been intentionally damaged or destroyed after the bird has been illegally killed. Despite strong indication that a crime has been committed, in the absence of substantive evidence the perpetrator cannot be brought to justice.

In England, in the last 10 years (2016-2025), 72 satellite tagged Hen Harriers – monitored by the RSPB and Natural England – have suddenly and suspiciously disappeared. With 85% of these vanishing on or near land managed for grouse shooting. These incidents indicate a much wider scale of killing as only a fraction of the total Hen Harrier population is fitted with tags.

All six of the satellite tagged Hen Harriers that suddenly disappeared in 2025 sent their final transmission from hotspots – these being areas with previous bird of prey incidents in northern England, all dominated by grouse moors. Intelligence suggests that these crimes are committed in an attempt to maximise the number of grouse available to be commercially shot for profit during the grouse shooting season.

Tragically, three of the six sat-tagged Hen Harriers which disappeared in 2025 all sent their final transmissions in September – just weeks after fledging the nests and within thirteen days of each other. Recent scientific research has shown that human persecution – the main cause for Hen Harriers vulnerable status – has reduced the lifespan of this rare species, with young birds surviving on average for only four months after leaving the nest.

In addition to the six, one Hen Harrier named Ataksak, was confirmed poisoned after its body was recovered close to a grouse moor in North Yorkshire in early January 2025. Toxicological testing revealed that it had died after being exposed to a lethal pesticide mixture, known as the ‘Nidderdale Cocktail’. Since 2011 this poison has been connected to the deaths of 15 birds of prey and one dog, all in North Yorkshire.

Mark Thomas, RSPB UK head of investigations said: “Although the suspected persecution of six of our satellite tagged Hen Harriers in one year is extremely concerning, these birds are sadly just the latest in a long trend. Since 2010 over one hundred satellite tagged Hen Harriers are suspected to have been illegally killed in the UK, with the majority disappearing on or near land managed for grouse shooting. As satellite tagged Hen Harriers represent a small proportion of the UK’s total Hen Harrier population the true number of Hen Harriers that are being illegally killed across the uplands of the UK is likely to be significantly greater. What we’re seeing is just the tip of the iceberg.”

The RSPB has been continuously calling for the introduction of a robust licensing system for all gamebird shooting in the UK. Introduced in Scotland for grouse shooting in 2024, this proportionate, low-cost measure would only penalise those shooting estates where crimes are being committed and help ensure that this rare and vulnerable species receives the protection it so urgently needs.

James Robinson, RSPB Chief Operating Officer said: “These latest incidents paint a desperate picture for Hen Harrier recovery in England. To prevent this pattern of killing, and give this vulnerable species a realistic hope of recovery, we urgently need licensing of all gamebird shooting to be introduced in England.

Under this proportionate legislation if a crime is suspected to have taken place, based on a civil burden of proof, the shooting estate can have their licence to shoot revoked – creating a meaningful deterrent against this type of wildlife crime. Scotland took this welcome step in 2024 when it introduced licensing for grouse shooting. We need to follow their lead and give Hen Harrier in England the safety they desperately need.”

Members of the public are urged to report any suspected incidents of bird of prey persecution by contacting the police on 101 and by submitting a report to the RSPB. This can be done via the RSPB’s online reporting form at www.rspb.org.uk/report-crimes or by calling the RSPB’s confidential Raptor Crime Hotline on 0300 999 0101. Reports via the RSPB’s reporting form and Raptor Crime Hotline can be made anonymously.

ENDS

1. Details of the seven RSPB satellite tagged Hen Harriers which were confirmed or suspected to have been illegally killed in 2025:
   1. Ataksak was found poisoned on a grouse moor in North Yorkshire poisoned with the Nidderdale Cocktail (January 2025). The area where Ataksak’s body was found is recognised as a bird of prey persecution hotspot. In the last ten years 25 confirmed bird of prey persecution incidents have been recorded in this area, including Ataksak. These included four Hen Harriers, 13 Red Kites and five Buzzards. A satellite tagged Hen Harrier also disappeared in this area in 2024.
   2. Sita disappeared on 27 February. Her tag sent its final transmission from a moor south of Reeth, in the northeastern area of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
   3. Dynamo was a six-year-old RSPB satellite tagged Hen Harrier which suspiciously disappeared whilst provisioning a nest in the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire in May 2025. He was one of four breeding male Hen Harriers that disappeared in northern England over a period of eight days – two from RSPB Geltsdale Nature Reserve in Cumbria, and a further two from the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire.  All of these birds vanished whilst foraging for food away from their nest. Based on intelligence reports and confirmed incidents it is highly suspected that these male Hen Harriers were killed whilst foraging away from their nest site. The disappearance of the male during the breeding season can often result in the female abandoning the nest or reduce the number of chicks which survive.
   4. Wadrew was one of three chicks that successfully fledged from RSPB Geltdale in the summer of 2025, raised with the assistance of RSPB staff and volunteers. When the male parent suddenly disappeared whilst foraging off the reserve (suspected to have been illegally killed) reserve staff and volunteers provided emergency supplementary food under licence. Hen Harrier chicks fledge with RSPB support after suspicious loss of parents. On 27 September, just weeks after fledging, Wadrew disappeared whilst on a grouse moor near Birkdale, in the north-west of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Based on incident data, this area – dominated by grouse moors – is the epicentre for Hen Harrier persecution in the UK. Since 2016, in this area four confirmed persecution incidents involving RSPB and Natural England satellite tagged Hen Harriers have taken place and 13 satellite tagged Hen Harriers have suspiciously disappeared (including Wadrew) – all suspected to have been persecuted (2016-2025).
   5. Morrigan suddenly disappeared on 30 September just three days after Wadrew’s final transmission and 17 km away, in the southern area of the North Pennines National Landscape – a notorious bird of prey persecution hotspot. In the same area in 2022, concerns were raised when irregular tag data was sent from a satellite tagged Hen Harrier named Asta. A search of the area lead to the discovery of Asta’s satellite tag, found fitted to a dead Carrion Crow. The harness was intact. As a tag harness cannot be removed intact without inflicting significant harm to the bird it was clear that Asta had been illegally killed. In the last ten years 13 confirmed and suspected bird of prey persecution incidents have been recorded in this area including one confirmed incident (the sat-tagged Hen Harrier Asta) and the suspicious disappearance of 10 satellite tagged Hen Harriers, including Morrigan, between 2016 and 2025.
   6. Beatrix: Just 10 days before Wadrew and Morrigan disappeared, another young RSPB satellite tagged Hen Harrier, Beatrix, also vanished. Beatrix fledged from the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve in Scotland in the summer and dispersed south into the North Pennines, settling in an area dominated by grouse moor near Allendale. Her sat-tag sent its final transmission from this location on 17 September. This area is another recognised persecution hotspot for Hen Harriers with four satellite tagged Hen Harriers confirmed to have been persecuted and six satellite tagged birds (including Beatrix) suspiciously disappearing in the area (2016-2025).
   7. Red: In January 2025, eight months earlier, a one-year-old Scottish Hen Harrier that had also fledged from the Tarras Valley nature reserve, named Red, disappeared in another part of the North Pennines in County Durham. Another satellite tagged Hen Harrier, named Sia, disappeared in the same area in 2022.

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