Sanctions to save birds of prey

Published on 31/08/2007 01:53

THE recent deliberate poisoning of a golden eagle on a Borders estate is indication that action is needed to stamp out criminal attacks on rare birds of prey.

Since 1995, 500 birds of prey have been poisoned, shot at or had their nests destroyed in Scotland. While the Scottish Gamekeepers Association has condemned this activity, the cause is assumed to be a desire to protect grouse stocks for shooting. Unfortunately, the police have found it very difficult to prosecute the individual culprits, despite the establishment of the National Wildlife Crime Unit in 2006.

That legal impotence could now end following a welcome initiative from the environment minister, Mike Russell. Yesterday, he announced he was looking at ways of applying sanctions to the estates implicated in bird poisonings, including cutting their Single Farm Payment subsidy. He is also thinking of removing the firearms licence of guilty parties, which would be a huge disincentive to anyone working in the countryside.

Prosecutions under any new laws will still be subject to meeting a burden of proof in the courts. But Mr Russell's "get tough" approach is bound to make some landowners and shooting syndicates be more proactive in demanding that rare birds of prey are protected on their estates. That alone should ensure fewer birds are killed.