Poisoning of birds of prey hits a record high ‘Abhorrent’ gamekeeper practice threatens species THE NUMBER of birds of prey poisoned illegally in Scotland rose to a record high last year after an eight-year campaign by Labour and LibDem ministers to crack down on wildlife crime.
A report to be published this week will reveal there were 39 confirmed cases of pesticide abuse in 2006 involving eagles, red kites, hawks, falcons, owls, buzzards and ravens. That is double the number in 2005 and the highest for 12 years.
The figures have been condemned by wildlife campaigners, who warned that people could end up being killed. The Scottish Executive, however, suggested they showed the success of efforts to detect crimes against nature.
The report, compiled by the Executive'sScottishAgriculturalScience AgencyinEdinburgh,istheofficial barometer of wildlife crime. In 2006, they investigated 177 alleged incidents. In 39 cases they found clear evidence that pesticides had been abused, with a further three cases classified as "misuse". Many other cases were defined as "unknown" or "unspecified" for lack of evidence.
The bird of prey most often poisoned was the buzzard, more than 30 of which were involved in investigations. Ten red kites were also contaminated, as well as five owls, three sparrowhawks, three peregrine falcons and two golden eagles.
Not only birds suffered. At least five foxes, three dogs and three cats died after being contaminated with pesticides.
Incidents came from all over the country, though the highest numbers were in Highland and Borders regions. Several investigations were pursued by the police and the commonest pesticide detected was carbofuran, which is not approved for use in the UK.
According to Logan Steele of the Scottish Raptor Study Groups, it was "abhorrent in this day and age" to have gamekeepers laying out poisoned bait to kill birds and pets. "How long will it be until this practice brings its first human victim?" he asked.
"A tiny amount of poison absorbed through the skin can cause very serious effects. The authorities need to waken up before we have a human fatality. Existing penalties are obviously insufficient and we must now ask sentencing authorities to hand down custodial sentences."
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) pointed out that many incidentswerelikelytohavebeen undetected because they happened in remoteareas."Illegalpoisoningis damaging the populations of some of our most vulnerable bird species as well as robbing the public and tourists," said Duncan Orr-Ewing of RSPB Scotland.
Michael Taylor, head of chemistry at the Scottish Agricultural Science Agency, said the 39 confirmed cases of deliberate pesticideabusein2006wereonly equalled by the number in 1994.
"Thesharpincreaseindeliberate abuse incidents over recent years is difficult to attribute to a specific reason," he said. "However, intensive investigations carried out by Scottish Wildlife Crime Officers and partner agencies have had a significant impact on the discovery of suspected poisonings of wildlife."
EnvironmentministerMichael Russell argued that the increase was due to better detection and reporting. "These statistics reflect the very positive actions of police and countryside agencies in tracking down and dealing with the perpetrators," he said.
"Whilst there is an increase, we must stress that the figures reflect a growing awareness of the problems and the willingness of individual members of the public to report these crimes."
It was reported yesterday that police are investigating the suspected poisoningofaredkitefounddeadnear Tomintoul in the Cairngorms last month. A post-mortem examination suggested it had been killed by carbofuran.
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Posted by: Swilly Tisher, Loch Maree on 7:58am Sun 17 Jun 07
Don't blame the poor gamekeepers.They're only following orders, barked down the phone by chinless toffs in ridiculous plus fours - invariably clutching a glass of Pimms No 1.They're the ones who should be forced to drink poison - along with the nouveau rich in gaudy red braces buying up the Highlands with their fat , City bonuses.
Don't blame the poor gamekeepers.They're only following orders, barked down the phone by chinless toffs in ridiculous plus fours - invariably clutching a glass of Pimms No 1.They're the ones who should be forced to drink poison - along with the nouveau rich in gaudy red braces buying up the Highlands with their fat , City bonuses.
Posted by: Andy, Scotland on 9:42pm Sun 17 Jun 07
Swilly
That was the excuse used by the Nazis you idiot!
Swilly
That was the excuse used by the Nazis you idiot!
Posted by: Anthony, Northumberland on 10:02pm Sun 17 Jun 07
I will comment on the bit by Swilly Tisher, I would like to know why can Game keepers not say no to there bosses it is better to losss your job than loss your job and be put in jail as well.
May be all game keepers are idiots after all.
Regards Anthony.
I will comment on the bit by Swilly Tisher, I would like to know why can Game keepers not say no to there bosses it is better to losss your job than loss your job and be put in jail as well.
May be all game keepers are idiots after all.
Regards Anthony.
Posted by: David, London on 7:07am Mon 18 Jun 07
Gamekeepers and their owners are equally guilty. It clearly shows pro hunt scum for what they are, and the sentences should be long term custodial. If these people really must kill something send them out for a tour in Iraq to see how they like killing things that fight back!
Gamekeepers and their owners are equally guilty. It clearly shows pro hunt scum for what they are, and the sentences should be long term custodial. If these people really must kill something send them out for a tour in Iraq to see how they like killing things that fight back!
Posted by: Stephen L. Tvedten, USA on 2:28pm Mon 18 Jun 07
How to kill pests without killing yourself or the earth......
There are about 50 to 60 million insect species on earth - we have named only about 1 million and there are only about 1 thousand pest species - already over 50% of these thousand pests are already resistant to our volatile, dangerous, synthetic pesticide POISONS. We accidentally lose about 25,000 to 100,000 species of insects, plants and animals every year due to "man's footprint". But, after poisoning the entire world and contaminating every living thing for over 60 years with these dangerous and ineffective pesticide POISONS we have not even controlled much less eliminated even one pest species and every year we use/misuse more and more pesticide POISONS to try to "keep up"! Even with all of this expensive pollution - we lose more and more crops and lives to these thousand pests every year.
We are losing the war against these thousand pests mainly because we insist on using only synthetic pesticide POISONS and fertilizers There has been a severe "knowledge drought" - a worldwide decline in agricultural R&D, especially in production research and safe, more effective pest control since the advent of synthetic pesticide POISONS and fertilizers. Today we are like lemmings running to the sea insisting that is the "right way". The greatest challenge facing humanity this century is the necessity for us to double our global food production with less land, less water, less nutrients, less science, frequent droughts, more and more contamination and ever-increasing pest damage.
National Poison Prevention Week, March 18-24,2007 was created to highlight the dangers of poisoning and how to prevent it. One study shows that about 70,000 children in the USA were involved in common household pesticide-related (acute) poisonings or exposures in 2004. It is estimated that 300,000 farm workers suffer acute pesticide poisoning each year in the United States - No one is checking chronic contamination.
In order to try to help "stem the tide", I have just finished re-writing my IPM encyclopedia entitled: THE BEST CONTROL II, that contains over 2,800 safe and far more effective alternatives to pesticide POISONS. This latest copyrighted work is about 1,800 pages in length and is now being updated chapter by chapter at my new website at http://www.stephentv
edten.com/ .
This new website at http://www.stephentv
edten.com/ has all of my original IPM encyclopedia in its original form and will continue to have more and more free, updated Chapters every week. So far we have electronically updated The Introduction, Chapters 1-6, 11, 15 through 38, 40, the Glossary of Terms and Acknowledgements . All of these copyrighted items are free for you to read and/or download. There is simply no need to POISON yourself or your family or to have any pest problems.
Stephen L. Tvedten
2530 Hayes Street Marne, Michigan 49435
1-616-677-1261
"An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come." --Victor Hugo
How to kill pests without killing yourself or the earth......
There are about 50 to 60 million insect species on earth - we have named only about 1 million and there are only about 1 thousand pest species - already over 50% of these thousand pests are already resistant to our volatile, dangerous, synthetic pesticide POISONS. We accidentally lose about 25,000 to 100,000 species of insects, plants and animals every year due to "man's footprint". But, after poisoning the entire world and contaminating every living thing for over 60 years with these dangerous and ineffective pesticide POISONS we have not even controlled much less eliminated even one pest species and every year we use/misuse more and more pesticide POISONS to try to "keep up"! Even with all of this expensive pollution - we lose more and more crops and lives to these thousand pests every year.
We are losing the war against these thousand pests mainly because we insist on using only synthetic pesticide POISONS and fertilizers There has been a severe "knowledge drought" - a worldwide decline in agricultural R&D, especially in production research and safe, more effective pest control since the advent of synthetic pesticide POISONS and fertilizers. Today we are like lemmings running to the sea insisting that is the "right way". The greatest challenge facing humanity this century is the necessity for us to double our global food production with less land, less water, less nutrients, less science, frequent droughts, more and more contamination and ever-increasing pest damage.
National Poison Prevention Week, March 18-24,2007 was created to highlight the dangers of poisoning and how to prevent it. One study shows that about 70,000 children in the USA were involved in common household pesticide-related (acute) poisonings or exposures in 2004. It is estimated that 300,000 farm workers suffer acute pesticide poisoning each year in the United States - No one is checking chronic contamination.
In order to try to help "stem the tide", I have just finished re-writing my IPM encyclopedia entitled: THE BEST CONTROL II, that contains over 2,800 safe and far more effective alternatives to pesticide POISONS. This latest copyrighted work is about 1,800 pages in length and is now being updated chapter by chapter at my new website at http://www.stephentv
edten.com/ .
This new website at http://www.stephentv
edten.com/ has all of my original IPM encyclopedia in its original form and will continue to have more and more free, updated Chapters every week. So far we have electronically updated The Introduction, Chapters 1-6, 11, 15 through 38, 40, the Glossary of Terms and Acknowledgements . All of these copyrighted items are free for you to read and/or download. There is simply no need to POISON yourself or your family or to have any pest problems.
Stephen L. Tvedten
2530 Hayes Street Marne, Michigan 49435
1-616-677-1261
"An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come." --Victor Hugo
Posted by: K WATSON, STOCKPORT, CHESHIRE on 1:00pm Wed 20 Jun 07
The record number of birds of prey poisoned to "protect" gamebirds reared for gun sports is horrific, but what about snares? They all constrict animals cruelly and fatally, however they are designed, and the number of cats and dogs horribly trapped in itself justifies a ban. One cat had his back leg so horribly mutilated it had to be removed, another was left with a deep wound all round his body and a phobia after the wire was removed and a dog owner recently found her pet nearly strangled on a noose fixed on a fence - on the side open to the public and their dogs! Gordon Brown clearly has a serious animal welfare issue to think about when he takes office - Advocates For Animals and League Against Cruel Sports have campaigns against snaring.
The record number of birds of prey poisoned to "protect" gamebirds reared for gun sports is horrific, but what about snares? They all constrict animals cruelly and fatally, however they are designed, and the number of cats and dogs horribly trapped in itself justifies a ban. One cat had his back leg so horribly mutilated it had to be removed, another was left with a deep wound all round his body and a phobia after the wire was removed and a dog owner recently found her pet nearly strangled on a noose fixed on a fence - on the side open to the public and their dogs! Gordon Brown clearly has a serious animal welfare issue to think about when he takes office - Advocates For Animals and League Against Cruel Sports have campaigns against snaring.
Posted by: joe public, uk on 11:21pm Wed 20 Jun 07
yes do blame the gamekeepers ..because of the nature of the job,were talking about people that enjoy killing stuff,which is a personality defect in itself.
Ive had the misfortune of meeting many gamekeepers in my work,and sadly they are all 'a certain kind of person' with little regard for any rules ..some seem to positively enjoy 'getting one over' on the 'bunny huggers' and naturelovers ..you can be as PC as you like,but im just telling it like it is.
Some farmers are only too happy to kill birds of prey or anything else on their land,through plain ignorance,and hatred towards animals they very misguidedly believe might do something to disrupt their livelyhood.
Its a horrible state of affairs ..to think we have such nasty bitter idiots controlling large amounts of important land.
yes do blame the gamekeepers ..because of the nature of the job,were talking about people that enjoy killing stuff,which is a personality defect in itself.
Ive had the misfortune of meeting many gamekeepers in my work,and sadly they are all 'a certain kind of person' with little regard for any rules ..some seem to positively enjoy 'getting one over' on the 'bunny huggers' and naturelovers ..you can be as PC as you like,but im just telling it like it is.
Some farmers are only too happy to kill birds of prey or anything else on their land,through plain ignorance,and hatred towards animals they very misguidedly believe might do something to disrupt their livelyhood.
Its a horrible state of affairs ..to think we have such nasty bitter idiots controlling large amounts of important land.
Posted by: lingeo781, abu dhabi on 6:07am Wed 18 Jul 07
Landowners and gamekeepers are jointly responsible for the protection of these rare species. It is fruitless to attempt to allocate proportions of blame.
There must be records of which estates and other the carcases are found. Both could be easily exposed to the spotlight of public opinion by 'naming and shaming'. This may be more effective than the difficult business of abtaining legal 'proof' of wrongdoing.
Landowners and gamekeepers are jointly responsible for the protection of these rare species. It is fruitless to attempt to allocate proportions of blame.
There must be records of which estates and other the carcases are found. Both could be easily exposed to the spotlight of public opinion by 'naming and shaming'. This may be more effective than the difficult business of abtaining legal 'proof' of wrongdoing.
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