Hen harriers: Police probe disappearance of rare birds of prey

Police are investigating the disappearances, which are both thought to have involved human interference

The suspicious disappearance of two rare hen harriers is "a huge blow for a struggling species", the RSPB has said.

One adult harrier went missing from the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire on 4 May after its tag stopped transmitting.

Another bird went missing in what the RSPB said were "suspicious circumstances" in North Yorkshire two weeks later.

The charity said 21 of the birds had either disappeared or been killed in the north of England in the past year.

Police are investigating the disappearances, which are both thought to have involved human interference.

Hen harriers have been protected since 1954 but still face illegal persecution because they prey on red grouse chicks to feed their young, bringing them into conflict with commercial shooting estates.

The missing Lancashire bird last location placed it over a grouse moor, the RSPB said.

Lancashire Police and the National Wildlife Crime Unit carried out a search of the area without success.

RSPB senior investigations officer Howard Jones said: "To have two more hen harriers disappear this spring is a huge blow for a struggling species where every nest counts.

"These latest disappearances are being treated as suspicious by the police"