Hunting and Hen Harriers

Labour MP Chris Mathieson tabled a debate in Westminster Hall on Wednesday on the subject of wildlife crime. Predictably almost the only crimes he wanted to discuss were those alleged by anti-hunt activists of hunts in his county of Cheshire. For someone who has called such a debate he was surprisingly confused about the current legislation. In reality the offence is very simple, if you deliberately chase a mammal with a dog you are committing an offence, yet Mr Mathieson made a number of bizarre suggestions including that a hunt can legally "chase a fox across countryside with unmuzzled dogs following its scent". I would not suggest he pursues a career in the law.

The debate, unfortunately, confirmed that 14 years after the Hunting Act came into force many in the Labour party remain obsessed with the image, and their perception, of hunting. The truth is irrelevant, social media is all the evidence needed and no legislation is to illiberal as far as hunting is concerned. In some ways it is sad that nothing changes, but in others the simple fact that hunting still exists despite this prejudice is something to be celebrated.

There was a shorter, and more serious, section of the debate prompted by a new scientific paper on the pattern of satellite tagged hen harrier disappearances which points the finger directly towards grouse shooting. We could argue about some of the assumptions in the research, but the reality is that there are still a few people within the shooting community who illegally kill raptors. The trends are in the right direction and we are a long way down the road in terms of culture change, but in some places old attitudes persist.

The Alliance has always been clear that there is no excuse for any illegal killing of birds of prey and actively supports work to educate the shooting community and enforce wildlife law. We have also always been clear that to end raptor persecution once and for all we need to be tough on both persecution and the causes of persecution.

As far as the hen harrier is concerned the main cause of persecution is the fear of colonies of breeding birds populating moors. This threat is a reality and it happened on Langholm moor during the joint RSPB/ GWCT/ SNH research which over 14 years showed the impact that colonies of hen harriers can have on a driven moor. Over that period every gamekeeping job on the moor was lost as it became uneconomic.

Removing the threat of the same thing happening on other moors is the purpose of the 'brood management' proposals in Defra's Hen Harrier Recovery Plan. This will mean that if a second hen harrier nest appears on a moor within 10km of an existing nest the chicks can be removed, reared in captivity and released. Last week the High Court rejected a Judicial Review brought by the RSPB and activists arguing that brood management is unlawful so it is now very clear that the killing of hen harriers is not only illegal and unacceptable, it is also pointless.

To end on a positive note last year saw more hen harrier chicks fledge in England than for over three decades. There are still far from enough, but with a plan in place to tackle persecution and the causes of persecution the population can continue to grow.

Tim Bonner

Chief Executive

Follow me at @CA_TimB