RSPB use hen harrier death to attack shooting

Countryside Alliance Chief Executive Tim Bonner writes:

We are all sad to hear of the demise of a hen harrier in Wales. We want to line up alongside non-shooting conservationists and show a united front. But how can we be expected to do so when so many in the so-called conservation movement seem more interested in weaponizing species decline rather than solving it?

The hen harrier died sometime around her first birthday, and was found in Llanidloes in mid-Wales. The body was severely decomposed, and a post-mortem undertaken by the Zoological Society of London could not determine the cause of death. That is as far as the facts will take us, and everything else is speculation.

Unfortunately, the RSPB are prone to speculation, as is the small but vociferous army of activists whose first priority seems to be harming shooting rather than helping birds. The ZSL post-mortem noted a fractured tail feather, and pointed out that fractures of this type "have previously been found in a hen harrier proven to have been shot with ammunition (Hopkins et al. 2015). No other signs of shooting were detected in this bird." This fractured tail feather was sufficient for the RSPB to deem the death "suspicious", and to lead many of their more excitable supporters to instantly connect the death to shooting.

This is spurious enough, but that isn't what Hopkins et al. 2015 actually says. The hen harrier to which that report refers was indeed shot, a crime we condemn, but the broken tail feather was not the conclusive evidence. The report actually states that "The tail feather damage was consistent with acute trauma, such as shooting, fighting or a collision (pers. comm. Brian Etheridge, 18th July 2013)."

So tail feather damage that could have been sustained in any number of ways is being used to link the Welsh hen harrier death to shooting, with no other supporting evidence. It has even been used to attack grouse shooting, despite there being no grouse shooting within 100 miles of Llanidloes.

The RSPB and their fellow travellers are determined to peddle the narrative that illegal killing is the only reason any hen harrier ever dies, like feathery Achilles who are immortal but suffer one fatal weakness. This is rubbish. Natural England suggest that first year mortality for hen harriers is roughly 70%, regardless of illegal killings. Pretending otherwise may boost your political campaigns and your membership coffers, but it alienates those landowners and game shooters who desperately want to work together to secure a future for the hen harrier but refuse to share a camp with supposed allies who want to lob a grenade into their trench at every opportunity.

The first weapon in conserving the hen harrier, and every other species of conservation value, is the truth. As long as those tasked with species recovery see PR opportunities in every bird death, progress will be unnecessarily sluggish.

Tim Bonner
Chief Executive
Follow me at @CA_TimB