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CHARITY BLOG
BIRD POISONING ESCALATION WORRIES RSPB
New figures show rise in poisoing of protected species.
The RSPB are alarmed by latest figures released in Scotland showing that 2009 was one of the worst years on record for bird of prey poisonings.
The Scottish environment minister, Roseanna Cunningham, said that 27 protected birds of prey were proven to have been poisoned last year, including two golden eagles, 19 buzzards and four red kites, in 22 separate incidents.
These figures are made particularly disappointing as it appeared that progress had been made in 2008 when 16 poisoning cases were detected. However, these latest numbers mark a return to the high level recorded in 2007, when 27 birds of prey were also poisoned, and close to the record figure of 34 in 2006.
Cunningham explained that the issue is receiving unprecedented attention: “The protection of Scotland’s wildlife has never before occupied such a prominent position politically or in terms of the law. I am hugely grateful to those partners working together to tackle these appalling crimes and I hope that our joint efforts will result in a safer environment for our birds of prey.”
But there is a strong opinion that still not enough is actually being done to tackle the problem.
Elaine Murray, Labour’s environment spokeswoman in the Scottish parliament, said: “In order to tackle poisonings, we have called for estates to be named and shamed where foul play is involved. The former [environment] minister Mike Russell pledged to get tough on wildlife crime but we’ve seen precious little action from the SNP. These figures today show it is time for robust action not just warm words.”
Sporting estates and grouse moors are widely blamed for the problem, where birds of prey are seen by game managers as a threat to grouse, pheasant and partridge stocks. The new figures showed that since 2005, 121 birds of prey had been poisoned, a statistic which does not include trapping, shooting, nest disturbance and undetected incidents.
Duncan Orr-Ewing, head of species at RSPB Scotland, is calling for the promises to crack down on the illegal activity to be followed through: “We ask the authorities to deploy the full range of sanctions against the perpetrators of this indiscriminate activity.”
The charity is also worried that the full extent of the problem has not yet been revealed: “Experience tells us that [these figures] represent just a fraction of the true scale of this illegal activity, which persist with shocking regularity in some areas of Scotland.”
