Rare bird of prey feared shot in Yorkshire Dales

Sita the hen harrier was fitted with a satellite tag by the RSPB to track her movements

A rare bird of prey is feared to have been shot in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Sita, a one-year-old hen harrier, had fledged from her nest in the Forest of Bowland, before settling at a wintering site on moorland between Reeth and Redmire.

The satellite tag she was fitted with stopped transmitting in February, and the RSPB reported the incident to the police, the National Wildlife Crime Unit and their Hen Harrier Task Force.

However according to North Yorkshire Police, "neither Sita nor the tracking tag could be located during this investigation, which explored all available lines of inquiry."

The protected bird species is one of the rarest in the UK, and is categorised as red-listed in terms of conservation concern.

Paul Samuels, co-chair of Hen Harrier Action, said the birds should be "thriving" in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, but "time and time again headlines about the park are dominated by illegal persecution stories, most often associated with grouse moors".

The charity had sponsored Sita's satellite tag from public donations.

"Sita's short life and sad end should be a catalyst for change."

Hen harriers were historically targeted because they prey on game birds that are reared for commercial shoots.

Sita, pictured here as a chick, is the 29th hen harrier to suspiciously disappear in the national park since 2015

According to the RSPB, when satellite tagged hen harriers die naturally, the tag will continue to transmit. However, sudden, unexplained transmission loss without signs of tag malfunction indicates that the bird is likely to have been shot, especially if no tag or body is then found.

Between 2015 and 2024, 67 confirmed or suspected incidents of bird of prey killing were recorded within or near the Yorkshire Dales National Park, according to the RSPB.

These included 39 incidents where birds of prey (including peregrine falcon, hen harriers, red kites and buzzards) were targeted, poisoned, trapped or shot and is the location where 28 suspicious disappearances of tagged hen harriers have taken place. Sita's loss brought the total to 29.

Howard Jones, senior investigations officer for the RSPB, said: "The majority of the suspicious disappearances of the satellite tagged birds seems to show a pattern where they disappear in and around land managed for driven grouse shooting.

"Obviously the Yorkshire Dales National Park is heavily dominated by land managed for grouse shooting, and there is a clear correlation that we've seen with these hen harriers disappearing in and around these areas."

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