Call to limit number of harriers on moors

Published on Monday 11 August 2008 22:04

SCIENTISTS have called for a trial on limiting the number of hen harriers on grouse moors, in an attempt to end the long-running conflict between conservationists and gamekeepers.

Dr Simon Thirgood and Professor Steve Redpath, of the Aberdeen Centre for Environmental Sustainability, said this could be the best way to improve the conservation status of hen harriers on grouse moors.

Prof Redpath said: "All moors can cope with some harriers, but few gamekeepers allow any of these predators to breed because of the fear that numbers will subsequently flourish.

"A ceiling scheme is a way of encouraging grouse managers to put an end to illegal killing of harriers, safe in the knowledge that numbers will not reach densities where they can threaten the viability of their grouse moors."

In a paper published in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Applied Ecology, the scientists propose a large-scale trial where a limit to harrier numbers on grouse moors could be agreed locally by interested parties, and additional birds could be moved to other areas.