Raptor Poisoning Map.

Raptor poisoning map from 2007 - 2011.

Defra have just released a map of confirmed raptor poisoning incidents in England and Wales.
The map for Scotland is below please click on images for a larger view.

Defra claim that 101 such incidents took place in this 4 year period.
What is astounding is that all these finds had been made accidentally. These incidents had been reported by people that had stumbled across poisoned birds in suspicious circumstances.

The worrying  fact about this number is that for every dead bird discovered there must be 10 maybe 20 or even more that are never found.

If only one bird in 10 is found and reported that would be more than 1000 birds poisoned in a 4 year period.  This is just poisoning there is no mention in these pages about about illegal trapping or shooting.
The RSPB claim that we have enough moorland in England to support 300 nesting pairs of Hen Harriers. In 2012 we had only one pair successfully breed.






The Yorkshire dales blackspot.