Ian Thomson, the head of investigations at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Scotland, said data from 77 birds of prey that had been satellite-tagged showed a direct correlation between dead and disappeared birds and grouse moors. “Many grouse moors host good populations of breeding eagles, harriers, merlin, buzzard and short-eared owls. But prompted by the golden eagle data released in May, Roseanna Cunningham, Scotland’s environment secretary, announced she was setting up an expert group to consider licensing of shooting estates, among other reforms. The licensing system, which the RSPB has campaigned for, would allow estates linked to wildlife persecution to be barred from commercial shooting. “There is every reason to believe that similar levels of persecution affect untagged golden eagles, as well as those we are able to track via satellite tags.”

Source: The Guardian August 11, 2017 14:22 UTC