Charity's biggest petition calls for birds to be protected

Around 200 birds of prey are illegally shot, poisoned or trapped on average each year, said wildlife charity the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

Yesterday a petition signed by more than 210,000 people, the largest ever collected by the RSPB, was handed to the Government, demanding an end to the killings.

RSPB director of conservation Dr Mark Avery said: "We have been impressed and inspired by the huge response to this campaign.

"That so many people felt moved to take time to add their names to our call for the killing to stop gives it enormous weight.

"Like us they are rightly appalled that birds of prey continue to be killed in our countryside."

Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act it is an offence for anyone to kill or harm a bird of prey in the UK.

But between 2004 and 2008, the average number of birds of prey being shot and killed each year stood at 193. The year 2007 proved the highest in recent years with 267 incidents.

Some species are particularly vulnerable to persecution.

Experts say there is a real danger that the hen harrier, a rare upland species, could become extinct in England as numbers continue to fall.

Persecution is also affecting the recovery programmes of the red kite and white-tailed eagle in Scotland. The chance of the golden eagle expanding further into England from its Scottish stronghold is also being hit by illegal persecution.

Most birds of prey are recovering in number since the days when they all but vanished because of persecution and poisoning from pesticides like DDT.

But the RSPB is calling for a review of the way crimes against wildlife are dealt with by the law in England and Wales.

A similar review has already been carried out in Scotland.

Wildlife Minister Huw Irranca-Davies said: "It's great to see that hundreds of thousands of people want to see these marvellous birds protected and have signed this petition."