Kits
Picture Picker
Birds of prey deaths blamed on shooting estate gamekeepers - RSPB
The bird protection charity described the deaths as a 'national disgrace'.
www.bbc.co.uk
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Birds of prey deaths (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Kits
- Start date
Farnboro John
Well-known member
Another thing that needs to happen is the immediate loss of a firearms/shotgun certificate for anyone convicted of any bird of prey killing offence. The excuse that they use to avoid this loss is that a gun is an essential tool of gamekeeping but frankly I think if so, all the better: if a gamekeeper thinks they will lose their livelihood (and likely their tied cottage) by killing BoP they will be more reluctant to do what is obviously the bidding of their feudal employers.
I can't think of any other gun-related crime for which a convicted shooter would not lose their firearms license and I don't see that this profession should be excluded from that sanction.
John
I can't think of any other gun-related crime for which a convicted shooter would not lose their firearms license and I don't see that this profession should be excluded from that sanction.
John
Farnboro John
Well-known member
62 convictions... its not nothing. But only one prison sentence, that's an issue: and fines as often as not get paid by the employer in one way or another. It would be much easier to believe BASC if the employers automatically responded to a conviction (or an accusation) by sacking the offender. But they don't, and the inference wouldn't challenge Watson let alone Holmes.
John
Gregg Martin
Active member
It seems that as often as not the raptor shot is one that lives on rodents and small birds. I am in the minority, but I also believe that rewilding once common forests to aid wildlife recovery is far overdue. Shooting of a Golden Eagle, a Goshawk, or other birds capable of a Grouse kill is thinking backwards, the paid hunters shoot far more, and their lives do not depend on the kill they made. This is a sad state of affairs.
Andy Lakin
Well-known member
I would seriously recommend the book Killing by Proxy by Alan Stewart about raptor persecution. It thoroughly explains the difficulties involved in gaining a conviction against these criminals. The laws regarding acquiring evidence are very strict meaning often perfectly good evidence isn't allowed to be used. Unfortunately there are very few people employed to specifically target these offenders but it would appear that these crimes are finally being taken seriously.
How many raptors are being killed by gamekeepers of pheasant/ partridge shoots as well as the grouse shooting estates that get most of the press coverage?
How many raptors are being killed by gamekeepers of pheasant/ partridge shoots as well as the grouse shooting estates that get most of the press coverage?
Gregg Martin
Active member
I searched the book, and it is on my Christmas list, should I not receive it then I'll purchase the book. The author seems to have extensive knowledge concerning this and many other wildlife issues, as well his background is impeccable. Thank you.
An excellent author; I have a signed copy of a previous book of his "Wildlife Detective", which I purchased in 2008.
He was giving a talk locally.
MJB
Well-known member
Alan Stewart is a really nice guy, except towards those who kill protected birds - I have several of his books.
MJB
Andy Lakin
Well-known member
Thanks for the heads up I will have to look for the others.
Sadly I'm sure that funding for extra resources will be a low priority especially nowadays when precious funds/ manhours are being spent on this ridiculous non hate crime incidents (or whatever it is called). Does anybody know how much the relative scarcity of a species reflects sentencing? The killing of say a Hen Harrier for instance can have far more grave consequences than say a Common Buzzard. Hopefully the knowledge of the wildlife crime officers is fully utilised as I would imagine the average judge wouldn't have much knowledge on the subject.
I was reading about the prevalence of dead raptors being found with deadly rat poison in them. The figures have shot up massively in recent years. Apparently most of these chemicals should only be used indoors but the law allows them to be used outside with certain provisions. Surely anybody caught using rodenticides irresponsibly should be prosecuted and where applicable their gun licences revoked. It still amazes how much influence a few extremely rich/ powerful people can influence our legal system regarding the countryside.
