Bird of prey protection campaign launched

Hen harrier Sita was tagged by the RSPB to track her movements, but the charity said she had gone missing

A campaign against the illegal killing of birds of prey in the Yorkshire Dales has been launched.

The Friends of the Dales' Eyes on the Skies initiative aims to teach people about the importance of the birds to the ecosystem and how to spot suspicious activity.

The campaign is backed by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, which has pledged to support work to end illegal activity around birds of prey and other wildlife by 2028.

David Butterworth, chief executive of the authority, said it was a "grim reality that criminal persecution still occurs" but that the organisation was "unwavering in its commitment to raptor conservation".

"The uplands of the Yorkshire Dales National Park should be a stronghold for a diverse range of raptor species," he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"As apex predators, their presence signals a healthy environment. Their absence, conversely, is a warning."

He said the authority would continue to work with landowners, managers and organisations that shared its ambitions.

The campaign was announced shortly after the RSPB revealed a hen harrier it monitored had gone missing under "suspicious circumstances".

Sita, a one-year old female, was last tracked by satellite tag to moorland between Reeth and Redmire while at a roost site.

The bird had been fitted with a tag last summer after fledging from her nest in the Forest of Bowland, and has not been tracked since February.

Figures from the wildlife charity showed that between 2015 and 2024, 67 confirmed or suspected raptor persecution incidents were recorded in or near the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

The data included 39 cases of birds of prey being poisoned, trapped or shot.

The RSPB added that 29 tagged hen harriers, including Sita, had also vanished during the same period.

The Eyes on the Skies campaign will launch later in October, with Kate Jennings, UK head of site conservation and species policy at the RSPB, hosting a live webinar.

Jonathan Riley, chair of trustees at Friends of the Dales, said the talk would highlight the "scale and nature" of the issue.

"Ms Jennings will shine a spotlight on bird crime in the Yorkshire Dales and the illegal and inhumane methods criminals use to trap, shoot and poison birds of prey," he said.

He said crimes against the birds persisted "despite more than seventy years of legal protection".

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