Poisoned eagle, disappeared eagle. Please write to politicians.

A grouse moor in the Eastern Highlands

Since I wrote the post below a satellite tagged young golden eagles has disappeared in the Strathbraan region of Perthshire, a raptor persecution hotspot (see Raptor Persecution UK). There is now a Parliamentary motion lodged by MSP Alex Rowley, calling for more to be done about the killing of birds of prey in the Highlands (again, see this post from Raptor Persecution UK). Those of us in Scotland should write to our MSPs asking them to sign this motion so it can be debated in the Scottish Government.

Wild Justice, the RSPB, and Hen Harrier Action have also started an e-action so people can send a pre-written letter to their MSP/MP/MS about raptor persecution and the damage done by driven grouse shooting. So far, 41,000 people have sent letters. Please join in.

Original post:

A young white-tailed eagle has been killed by poisoning on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park, the latest in a series of deaths and disappearances of birds of prey on or near grouse moors. (see Raptor Persecution UK). This is a disgrace and has rightly caused a big stir on social media.

This latest case makes a mockery of the National Park designation. I have to say I'm not surprised though. There are areas of the park and the Eastern Highlands I won't visit again as they are wildlife deserts with bulldozed roads, animal traps, and ugly muirburn. Their sole purpose is to ensure there are large numbers of grouse for a few people to enjoy killing.

Nothing seems to be done to curb the wildlife slaughter on these industrialised grouse moors. It's time that changed (my view is that driven grouse shooting should be banned). One way to do this is to put pressure on the Scottish government and I urge everyone concerned to email the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, and the Environment Cabinet Secretary, Roseanna Cunningham.

firstminister@gov.scot

CabSecECCLR@gov.scot

Many people have already sent emails and the progress of the campaign can be followed on Raptor Persecution UK.