Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
For example, in certain cases, the suggestion has been that anti-hunting groups have 'planted'
poisoned carcasses on sporting estates as part of a campaign against gamekeepers (e.g., Raptor
Persecution Scotland 2010b; 2010c). This rather bizarre (and unsubstantiated) claim was tested
in 2007, when a golden eagle was found dead under her nest on a sporting estate in the Scottish
Borders. The bird was one half of the only breeding pair remaining in the Borders, and had been poi-
soned by carbofuran. The suggestion was (according to the Chairman of the Scottish Gamekeeper's
Association) that the eagle had been planted on the estate to coincide with the beginning of the
annual grouse-shooting season on 12 August as a publicity stunt to tarnish the reputation of grouse-
shooters (A. Hogg, personal communication 2007). The suggestion was that the eagle in question
was from elsewhere in Scotland (and was a historically poisoned, archived specimen) and had been
brought to the site by those opposed to the hunting activity. However, this eagle had previously been
DNA-sampled at her nest (during the two previous breeding seasons) as part of a national study on
golden eagle population dynamics (Tingay, Whitfi eld and McGrady 2008). DNA obtained from the
dead eagle was compared with the DNA profi le on record for the resident female, and it was indeed
an identical match (Tingay, unpublished data).
In May 2010, the Scottish Rural Properties and Business Association (SRPBA - a group repre-
senting landowners) launched a public relations exercise following the high-profi le discovery during
that month of three golden eagles (two poisoned with carbofuran, one with aldicarb) on the Skibo
Castle sporting estate in northern Scotland. The SRPBA, and other game-shooting interested bod-
ies, were responding to public concern about raptor persecution on Scottish sporting estates. The
response was also prompted by an RSPB petition calling for the government to take stronger action
against the perpetrators of such crimes (which had been released earlier in the year, and which had
been signed by 210 567 members of the public). Over 200 prominent landowners then signed a letter
to the Scottish Environment Minister, condemning raptor poisoning and calling for the 'full weight
of the law' to be brought down on those who commit such crimes'.
Unfortunately, the inherent sincerity (and therefore credibility) of the letter, or at least some of its
signatories, was subsequently questioned. For instance, wildlife crimes had previously been reported
on some of the estates represented i.e., 23 estates (Raptor Persecution Scotland 2010d). In addition,
just one month later, multiple dead raptors and poisoned baits were discovered on Moy Estate in the
Scottish Highlands despite the fact that the owner was also a signatory to the SRPBA letter (Raptor
Persecution Scotland 2010e). While the signatories/estate owners may well condemn such persecu-
tion personally, they are therefore evidently failing to prevent such incidences occurring on their
own managed land, often at the hand of their own supposedly trusted employees.
The investigation and prosecution of raptor persecution incidents in Scotland is also often heavily
hampered either by a lack of resources or by procedural diffi culties. Recently, evidence has sug-
gested that the Scottish police are not meeting their full statutory duty to investigate wildlife crime
(i.e., they are not fully investigating reported incidents of alleged persecution; RSPB 2009b; Raptor
Persecution Scotland 2010f ). Where convictions have been secured, the punishment is typically a
derisory fi ne, community service, or a formal 'admonishment' (RSPB 2009a). Harsher penalties are
certainly available following the enactment of the 2007 Criminal Proceedings (Reform) (Scotland)
Act. Fines of up to £10 000 can be levied, and/or each offence is punishable by a year's prison sen-
tence, but to date, such sentencing has not been applied. There is therefore little deterrent prevailing
in the system, although recently there have been a few cases where substantial farming subsidies
have been withdrawn from estates under European Cross Compliance legislation (RSPB 2009a).
Although the issue of illegal raptor poisoning is high on the Scottish political agenda in 2011,
there are also still some politicians who do not fully accept that there is a signifi cant problem in
Scotland. Recently (in December 2010), a Minister stated in Parliament that he considered raptor per-
secution to be a 'part real - part imaginary crime' (Raptor Persecution Scotland 2010g). Again (in
the author's view), such statements suggest that Victorian attitudes still persist in the UK, and that
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