Landowners call for right to kill birds of prey

A group of landowners is calling on the Scottish government to allow them to kill some birds of prey. In the BBC Scotland documentary aired yesterday (10 May) the Scottish Rural Property and Business Association said they needed to have such powers to protect stocks of grouse and other game birds as grouse moors were becoming uneconomic due to the decline of in the number of grouse as a result of predatory birds. Landowners want to be given licences allowing them to kill more common birds such as buzzard and ravens.

In response, Duncan Orr-Ewing from the RSPB Scotland described the call as “bizarre” and said any legal killing would be wrong while the illegal slaughter of birds of prey continued.

Mr Orr-Ewing said, “What people are effectively saying is ‘you know we will obey the law if you give us the right to kill protected species. Society has decided that these birds need protection and are vulnerable.”

The BBC Scotland documentary, ‘Fair Game? Scotland’s Sporting Estates’ examined the illegal killing of birds of prey. Approximately 30 birds of prey are found poisoned or shot each year but conservationists believe that the real scale of killing is much greater with some evidence showing there are fewer birds of prey living on or near grouse moors than would be expected.

The programme also looked at experimental measures being taken to try and allow birds of prey and driven grouse shooting to co-exist such as feeding Hen Harriers so that they don’t take grouse chicks. Some landowners also expressed the belief that they were the victims of an organised campaign to discredit them and that dead birds were being planted on the hills to incriminate them. The documentary is available to view on BBC iPlayer.