ANIMAL FORUM

>Hunt for the Scottish poisoners
>http://tinyurl.com/ynrpp9
>Death of female golden eagle with fledgling chick prompts calls for
>crackdown on rogue gamekeepers
>Severin Carrell, Scotland correspondent The Guardian Monday August 27
>2007
>The golden eagle laid out on the sterilised steel dissection table had
>no name, only a number: 07103. It was a flawless specimen, her
>burnished gold and bronze plumage was clean, her eyes intact and her
>yellow feet and talons bright and unmarked.
>
>But the eagle died a painful death on a hillside in the Scottish
>Borders three weeks ago, while 60 feet away her agitated fledgling
>chick perched in a tree, yelping in distress. It was poisoned with
>carbofuran, a pesticide banned in Britain since 2001, which attacked
>its central nervous system, causing rapid paralysis, seizures, cramps
>and coma.
>
>Police and conservationists believe the eagle is the victim of an
>intensifying and illegal war against birds of prey being fought by
>gamekeepers and landowners to protect commercially reared game birds -
>red grouse, pheasant and partridge - from their natural predators.
>
>But its death - the latest of 85 proven and suspected cases of golden
>eagle persecution in Scotland since 1980 - may be the turning point.
>Ministers are now pledging a fresh crackdown on the persecutors, while
>conservationists are pressing for new controls on grouse moors,
>including licences forcing their owners to preserve all the areas
>wildlife.
>
>Were absolutely determined that this problem will be stamped out,
>Mike Russell, the Scottish environment minister, told the Guardian.
>Offences will be prosecuted with vigour. It is selfishness and greed
>when people are poisoning birds wholly in order to increase
>temporarily some bag of birds which are pretty common everywhere, he
>said.
>
>Already this year there have been 22 confirmed cases where birds of
>prey - including red kites, buzzards, the golden eagle and peregrine
>falcons - have been poisoned in Scotland, and three more cases from
>the last fortnight are under investigation. It could be a record year.
>In 2006, there were 26 proven incidents of raptor poisoning - itself a
>12-year high. Many more go undetected.
>
>Experts at the Scottish Agricultural Sciences Agency laboratory near
>Edinburgh, where advanced forensic techniques are being used to
>analyse the eagle and the suspect bait, say they have uncovered a
>disturbing trend. For the first time last year four birds were killed
>on grouse moors with isofenphos, a pesticide never legally available
>in the UK but sold in Ireland and the continent. So far this year, a
>further case has involved isofenphos.
>
>The discovery of 07103 - it was the 103rd animal the agency had tested
>for poisoning this year - was publicised the day after the Glorious
>Twelfth, the official start of the grouse shooting season, grabbing
>dramatic headlines. The owner of Harrods, Mohamed Al Fayed, who was
>furious when three red kites raised on his 65,000-acre Highland estate
>were killed, said employers should be made legally liable for their
>gamekeepers actions.
>
>I am very angry, he said. Landowners must be held accountable. They
>must stand alongside their gamekeepers in the dock. It is not good
>enough for them to hide behind employees.
>
>While gamekeeping leaders claimed the corpse may have been planted by
>animal rights activists, the public outcry has been intense: the
>reward offered by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and by
>falconry groups for information leading to a conviction has jumped
>from Ł1,000 to Ł7,500, with donations coming from abroad.
>
>Landowners around Peebles - a prosperous area of wooded glens, high
>moors, historic castles and farms 24 miles south of Edinburgh, are
>embarrassed and furious that the case has occurred in their area. As
>one of the three most southerly breeding pairs of golden eagles in the
>UK, they were nationally significant - the last two pairs are in
>Dumfries and Galloway.
>
>Golden eagles pair for life, so her partner will not mate again and
>their chick is now vulnerable. It is just approaching maturity,
>leaving it at risk, so estate owners are supplying PC Mark Rafferty,
>the areas wildlife crime officer, with fresh roe deer carcasses for
>the young eagle to feed on.
>
>PC Raffertys investigations have led to the conviction of six
>shooting estate workers in the Borders for persecuting birds of prey,
>sometimes using baited traps, live pigeons and snares. None were
>sacked. They very rarely are, say conservationists. There has been a
>culture of persecution, he said. But the crux of it is that these
>are extremely difficult cases to detect.
>
>Conservationists fear this eagles death means the Borders will become
>the latest area in Scotland to be cleansed of golden eagles. Last
>month, a study in the British Trust for Ornithology Journal stated
>that in four bio-geographic zones in the eastern and southern
>Highlands which ought to be prime territories for golden eagle, their
>numbers were in sharp decline. These areas cover the Cairngorms,
>Speyside and Perthshire, and are famed for their grouse moors. Of the
>141 golden eagle territories in these areas, 86 were empty in 2003.
>
>Alex Hogg, chairman of the Scottish Gamekeepers Association, insisted
>his members were warned not to persecute birds of prey. Its just a
>no-no, he said.
>
>However, ministers had to consider introducing a quota system for
>eagles, hawks and buzzards on shooting estates, moving the birds if
>their high numbers were damaging grouse stocks, he added.
>
>Doug McAdam, chief executive of the landowners group, the Scottish
>Rural Property and Business Association, insisted his organisation and
>members was committed to eradicating persecution. There are codes of
>conduct, and indeed it is written into many gamekeepers contracts now
>that such illegal activities would result in immediate termination. So
>we do not condone it, and we do not accept that it is common
>practice, he said.
>

>On Tue, 28 Aug 2007 08:04:10 +0100, Gloria
> wrote:
>
>>Hunt for the Scottish poisoners
>>http://tinyurl.com/ynrpp9
>>Death of female golden eagle with fledgling chick prompts calls for
>>crackdown on rogue gamekeepers
>>Severin Carrell, Scotland correspondent The Guardian Monday August 27
>>2007
>>The golden eagle laid out on the sterilised steel dissection table had
>>no name, only a number: 07103. It was a flawless specimen, her
>>burnished gold and bronze plumage was clean, her eyes intact and her
>>yellow feet and talons bright and unmarked.
>>
>>But the eagle died a painful death on a hillside in the Scottish
>>Borders three weeks ago, while 60 feet away her agitated fledgling
>>chick perched in a tree, yelping in distress. It was poisoned with
>>carbofuran, a pesticide banned in Britain since 2001, which attacked
>>its central nervous system, causing rapid paralysis, seizures, cramps
>>and coma.
>>
>>Police and conservationists believe the eagle is the victim of an
>>intensifying and illegal war against birds of prey being fought by
>>gamekeepers and landowners to protect commercially reared game birds -
>>red grouse, pheasant and partridge - from their natural predators.
>>
>>But its death - the latest of 85 proven and suspected cases of golden
>>eagle persecution in Scotland since 1980 - may be the turning point.
>>Ministers are now pledging a fresh crackdown on the persecutors, while
>>conservationists are pressing for new controls on grouse moors,
>>including licences forcing their owners to preserve all the areas
>>wildlife.
>>
>>Were absolutely determined that this problem will be stamped out,
>>Mike Russell, the Scottish environment minister, told the Guardian.
>>Offences will be prosecuted with vigour. It is selfishness and greed
>>when people are poisoning birds wholly in order to increase
>>temporarily some bag of birds which are pretty common everywhere, he
>>said.
>>
>>Already this year there have been 22 confirmed cases where birds of
>>prey - including red kites, buzzards, the golden eagle and peregrine
>>falcons - have been poisoned in Scotland, and three more cases from
>>the last fortnight are under investigation. It could be a record year.
>>In 2006, there were 26 proven incidents of raptor poisoning - itself a
>>12-year high. Many more go undetected.
>>
>>Experts at the Scottish Agricultural Sciences Agency laboratory near
>>Edinburgh, where advanced forensic techniques are being used to
>>analyse the eagle and the suspect bait, say they have uncovered a
>>disturbing trend. For the first time last year four birds were killed
>>on grouse moors with isofenphos, a pesticide never legally available
>>in the UK but sold in Ireland and the continent. So far this year, a
>>further case has involved isofenphos.
>>
>>The discovery of 07103 - it was the 103rd animal the agency had tested
>>for poisoning this year - was publicised the day after the Glorious
>>Twelfth, the official start of the grouse shooting season, grabbing
>>dramatic headlines. The owner of Harrods, Mohamed Al Fayed, who was
>>furious when three red kites raised on his 65,000-acre Highland estate
>>were killed, said employers should be made legally liable for their
>>gamekeepers actions.
>>
>>I am very angry, he said. Landowners must be held accountable. They
>>must stand alongside their gamekeepers in the dock. It is not good
>>enough for them to hide behind employees.
>>
>>While gamekeeping leaders claimed the corpse may have been planted by
>>animal rights activists, the public outcry has been intense: the
>>reward offered by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and by
>>falconry groups for information leading to a conviction has jumped
>>from Ł1,000 to Ł7,500, with donations coming from abroad.
>>
>>Landowners around Peebles - a prosperous area of wooded glens, high
>>moors, historic castles and farms 24 miles south of Edinburgh, are
>>embarrassed and furious that the case has occurred in their area. As
>>one of the three most southerly breeding pairs of golden eagles in the
>>UK, they were nationally significant - the last two pairs are in
>>Dumfries and Galloway.
>>
>>Golden eagles pair for life, so her partner will not mate again and
>>their chick is now vulnerable. It is just approaching maturity,
>>leaving it at risk, so estate owners are supplying PC Mark Rafferty,
>>the areas wildlife crime officer, with fresh roe deer carcasses for
>>the young eagle to feed on.
>>
>>PC Raffertys investigations have led to the conviction of six
>>shooting estate workers in the Borders for persecuting birds of prey,
>>sometimes using baited traps, live pigeons and snares. None were
>>sacked. They very rarely are, say conservationists. There has been a
>>culture of persecution, he said. But the crux of it is that these
>>are extremely difficult cases to detect.
>>
>>Conservationists fear this eagles death means the Borders will become
>>the latest area in Scotland to be cleansed of golden eagles. Last
>>month, a study in the British Trust for Ornithology Journal stated
>>that in four bio-geographic zones in the eastern and southern
>>Highlands which ought to be prime territories for golden eagle, their
>>numbers were in sharp decline. These areas cover the Cairngorms,
>>Speyside and Perthshire, and are famed for their grouse moors. Of the
>>141 golden eagle territories in these areas, 86 were empty in 2003.
>>
>>Alex Hogg, chairman of the Scottish Gamekeepers Association, insisted
>>his members were warned not to persecute birds of prey. Its just a
>>no-no, he said.
>>
>>However, ministers had to consider introducing a quota system for
>>eagles, hawks and buzzards on shooting estates, moving the birds if
>>their high numbers were damaging grouse stocks, he added.
>>
>>Doug McAdam, chief executive of the landowners group, the Scottish
>>Rural Property and Business Association, insisted his organisation and
>>members was committed to eradicating persecution. There are codes of
>>conduct, and indeed it is written into many gamekeepers contracts now
>>that such illegal activities would result in immediate termination. So
>>we do not condone it, and we do not accept that it is common
>>practice, he said.
>>
>
>Pro hunt have no regard for the law.

>On Tue, 28 Aug 2007 20:51:21 +0100, Pearl
>wrote:
>
>>On Tue, 28 Aug 2007 08:04:10 +0100, Gloria
>> wrote:
>>
>>>Hunt for the Scottish poisoners
>>>http://tinyurl.com/ynrpp9
>>>Death of female golden eagle with fledgling chick prompts calls for
>>>crackdown on rogue gamekeepers
>>>Severin Carrell, Scotland correspondent The Guardian Monday August 27
>>>2007
>>>The golden eagle laid out on the sterilised steel dissection table had
>>>no name, only a number: 07103. It was a flawless specimen, her
>>>burnished gold and bronze plumage was clean, her eyes intact and her
>>>yellow feet and talons bright and unmarked.
>>>
>>>But the eagle died a painful death on a hillside in the Scottish
>>>Borders three weeks ago, while 60 feet away her agitated fledgling
>>>chick perched in a tree, yelping in distress. It was poisoned with
>>>carbofuran, a pesticide banned in Britain since 2001, which attacked
>>>its central nervous system, causing rapid paralysis, seizures, cramps
>>>and coma.
>>>
>>>Police and conservationists believe the eagle is the victim of an
>>>intensifying and illegal war against birds of prey being fought by
>>>gamekeepers and landowners to protect commercially reared game birds -
>>>red grouse, pheasant and partridge - from their natural predators.
>>>
>>>But its death - the latest of 85 proven and suspected cases of golden
>>>eagle persecution in Scotland since 1980 - may be the turning point.
>>>Ministers are now pledging a fresh crackdown on the persecutors, while
>>>conservationists are pressing for new controls on grouse moors,
>>>including licences forcing their owners to preserve all the areas
>>>wildlife.
>>>
>>>Were absolutely determined that this problem will be stamped out,
>>>Mike Russell, the Scottish environment minister, told the Guardian.
>>>Offences will be prosecuted with vigour. It is selfishness and greed
>>>when people are poisoning birds wholly in order to increase
>>>temporarily some bag of birds which are pretty common everywhere, he
>>>said.
>>>
>>>Already this year there have been 22 confirmed cases where birds of
>>>prey - including red kites, buzzards, the golden eagle and peregrine
>>>falcons - have been poisoned in Scotland, and three more cases from
>>>the last fortnight are under investigation. It could be a record year.
>>>In 2006, there were 26 proven incidents of raptor poisoning - itself a
>>>12-year high. Many more go undetected.
>>>
>>>Experts at the Scottish Agricultural Sciences Agency laboratory near
>>>Edinburgh, where advanced forensic techniques are being used to
>>>analyse the eagle and the suspect bait, say they have uncovered a
>>>disturbing trend. For the first time last year four birds were killed
>>>on grouse moors with isofenphos, a pesticide never legally available
>>>in the UK but sold in Ireland and the continent. So far this year, a
>>>further case has involved isofenphos.
>>>
>>>The discovery of 07103 - it was the 103rd animal the agency had tested
>>>for poisoning this year - was publicised the day after the Glorious
>>>Twelfth, the official start of the grouse shooting season, grabbing
>>>dramatic headlines. The owner of Harrods, Mohamed Al Fayed, who was
>>>furious when three red kites raised on his 65,000-acre Highland estate
>>>were killed, said employers should be made legally liable for their
>>>gamekeepers actions.
>>>
>>>I am very angry, he said. Landowners must be held accountable. They
>>>must stand alongside their gamekeepers in the dock. It is not good
>>>enough for them to hide behind employees.
>>>
>>>While gamekeeping leaders claimed the corpse may have been planted by
>>>animal rights activists, the public outcry has been intense: the
>>>reward offered by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and by
>>>falconry groups for information leading to a conviction has jumped
>>>from Ł1,000 to Ł7,500, with donations coming from abroad.
>>>
>>>Landowners around Peebles - a prosperous area of wooded glens, high
>>>moors, historic castles and farms 24 miles south of Edinburgh, are
>>>embarrassed and furious that the case has occurred in their area. As
>>>one of the three most southerly breeding pairs of golden eagles in the
>>>UK, they were nationally significant - the last two pairs are in
>>>Dumfries and Galloway.
>>>
>>>Golden eagles pair for life, so her partner will not mate again and
>>>their chick is now vulnerable. It is just approaching maturity,
>>>leaving it at risk, so estate owners are supplying PC Mark Rafferty,
>>>the areas wildlife crime officer, with fresh roe deer carcasses for
>>>the young eagle to feed on.
>>>
>>>PC Raffertys investigations have led to the conviction of six
>>>shooting estate workers in the Borders for persecuting birds of prey,
>>>sometimes using baited traps, live pigeons and snares. None were
>>>sacked. They very rarely are, say conservationists. There has been a
>>>culture of persecution, he said. But the crux of it is that these
>>>are extremely difficult cases to detect.
>>>
>>>Conservationists fear this eagles death means the Borders will become
>>>the latest area in Scotland to be cleansed of golden eagles. Last
>>>month, a study in the British Trust for Ornithology Journal stated
>>>that in four bio-geographic zones in the eastern and southern
>>>Highlands which ought to be prime territories for golden eagle, their
>>>numbers were in sharp decline. These areas cover the Cairngorms,
>>>Speyside and Perthshire, and are famed for their grouse moors. Of the
>>>141 golden eagle territories in these areas, 86 were empty in 2003.
>>>
>>>Alex Hogg, chairman of the Scottish Gamekeepers Association, insisted
>>>his members were warned not to persecute birds of prey. Its just a
>>>no-no, he said.
>>>
>>>However, ministers had to consider introducing a quota system for
>>>eagles, hawks and buzzards on shooting estates, moving the birds if
>>>their high numbers were damaging grouse stocks, he added.
>>>
>>>Doug McAdam, chief executive of the landowners group, the Scottish
>>>Rural Property and Business Association, insisted his organisation and
>>>members was committed to eradicating persecution. There are codes of
>>>conduct, and indeed it is written into many gamekeepers contracts now
>>>that such illegal activities would result in immediate termination. So
>>>we do not condone it, and we do not accept that it is common
>>>practice, he said.
>>>
>>
>>Pro hunt have no regard for the law.
>
>
>The way to stop the poisoners is to ban shooting.

>This would not only
>save raptors but would stop the abuse of millions of game birds.
>
>Scotland is now considering banning air guns. The should go the whole
>way and ban all guns. Air guns are much less lethal than shotguns and
>rifles.
>

> The way to stop the poisoners is to ban shooting.

>>The way to stop the poisoners is to ban shooting.
>
> A complete ban is a must

> but sadly many farmers/landowners will continue to
> slaughter wildlife by snares, poisons, hounds etc because
> they are inherently cruel and have a psychotic urge to not
> share anything