Call for new bird poison laws after region named blackspot

The RSPB’s latest annual bird crime report showed there were 128 reports of illegal poisoning in 2010, with 20 red kites, 30 buzzards, five golden eagles and eight peregrine falcons among the birds found poisoned.

In North Yorkshire alone, four red kites, three buzzards and a goshawk were found poisoned during last year.

The national study has been released a century after the practice of putting out baits laced with deadly poisons in the countryside to kill wildlife was outlawed.

The RSPB has blamed the continuing problem on “rogue elements” within the gamekeeping industry with illegal persecution remaining “unacceptably common” in the UK’s uplands, particularly on land managed for intensive grouse shooting.

RSPB conservation director Martin Harper said: “It has been illegal to poison birds of prey since 1911.

“But in a bizarre quirk, it is not illegal in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for individuals to possess some of the most deadly poisons, even though they have no legitimate use for them.

“If the Government is serious about tackling illegal persecution of birds of prey, it really needs to start taking meaningful action.

“Putting additional controls on the possession of these common wildlife poisons would be a relatively easy first step, especially as these controls would not affect legitimate pesticide uses.”

The figures for last year are not as bad as 2009, when 153 reports of illegal poisoning of birds were received, and are also lower than the five-year average of 150 incidents.

But the RSPB report said last year’s figures contained some “very serious” incidents including the first poisoning in living memory of a golden eagle in Northern Ireland, where it had been released as part of a re-introduction programme.

And a white-tailed eagle, a bird which has only returned to the UK through a re-introduction programme after being persecuted to extinction, was found poisoned in Scotland.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs confirmed it is “carefully considering” the laws surrounding possession of pesticides that are harmful to wildlife. A spokeswoman stressed strict laws are already in place to protect birds of prey.