Red Kite (Photo: A Hisgett)
Yesterday morning (3 June) Police mounted a massive raid on the Moy Estate near Inverness as part of an ongoing intelligence led operation into allegations of wildlife crime in the area.
The operation involved the searching of outbuildings, a large area of open ground, and vehicles, and involved 25 Police officers including specialist wildlife crime officers, search officers, CID and scenes of crime staff. They were assisted by specialists from other agencies including the RSPB and Scottish Natural Heritage. A number of items were removed for forensic examination.
The operation has been running for a number of weeks and over the past month Police have recovered a number of dead birds of prey, including Red Kites and other protected species. Also found in the area was a grouse carcass, which has since tested positive for an illegal poison.
The focus of the operation is the illegal poisoning of protected birds of prey and Northern Constabulary and its partners says it treats crimes of this nature extremely seriously. Area Commander for Inverness, Chief Inspector Andy MacLean, said: “Wildlife crime is a blight on the environment and a serious concern to the public.
“Northern Constabulary consider such crime a serious risk to the safety of the public and have demonstrated today our intention to rigorously deal with reports of wildlife crime, in particular the poisoning of wildlife on open ground which is accessible to the public.”
RSPB Scotland said one of the dead kites had been among birds of prey which were satellite tagged for its Eyes to the Skies schools project, where local school children have been watching the birds movements and activities. The organisation said suspicions were raised when its signal, which was being tracked via the internet, stopped moving.
The BBC reports that, in a separate incident, the remains of a 20-year-old red kite brought to Scotland from Sweden in the 1980s as part of a re-introduction programme have been found in the Highlands. The bird is thought to have been one of the oldest in northern Scotland and is likely to have died of natural causes. RSPB conservation manager Kenna Chisholm found the bird while walking her dog near her home in Avoch, the Black Isle. A ring on one of the bird’s legs revealed it was among the red kites re-introduced to the Highlands.