RSPB launch campaign to stamp out raptor persecution

The RSPB is continuing its relentless campaign to stamp out raptor persecution with the launch of yet another report on Tuesday, 6 May, into the status of the UK’s birds of prey.

In all, 26 organisations have put their names to the report entitled On a Wing and a Prayer, including, unusually, the Ramblers’ Association, the Fell Runners Association, the British Mountaineering Council and the Kennel Club.

In it the RSPB continues to harangue the shooting community by highlighting the impact of persecution on various species. A spokesman for the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation (NGO) pointed out that the list of organisations backing the report hinted at desperation:

“I suppose the RSPB wanted numbers and when the key game management and landowning bodies all declined to sign up, it had to scrape the barrel.”

The spokesman said the NGO declined to endorse the publication, describing it as “unhelpful” in its presentation of speculation as fact at a time when all parties are supposed to be working towards a sustainable future for raptors.

To view report, visit www.rspb.org.uk

The rest of this article appears in 8 May issue of Shooting Times.