Gamekeeper Charged with Wildlife Crime
- Andrew Gilruth
- 2 days ago
- 1 min read
We are aware that a gamekeeper has been charged with an alleged wildlife crime. While opponents of grouse moors will no doubt assume that he is guilty, we, like the legal system, do not.
The estate where this man worked is not a member of the Moorland Association, but we take this opportunity to make clear that we do not believe that any level of wildlife crime is acceptable.
Over the last decade, our members have worked closely with Government to achieve a remarkable transformation among gamekeepers in acceptance of hen harriers – which eat grouse – on their moors. The numbers speak for themselves, in just seven years there was an eleven-fold increase in the number of these birds of prey. [1]
This partnership between gamekeepers and conservationists has arguably been Britain’s most successful conservation scheme this century: gamekeepers have protected these ground nesting birds of prey from foxes while Defra has ensured, through brood management, that hen harrier numbers do not get so large on any given grouse moor that it fails. [2]
Sources
[1] An 1,150% increase in hen harrier numbers in England between 2016 and 2023 when the Defra Brood Management Scheme stopped operating. See page 7 of “The status of breeding Hen Harriers Circus cyaneus in the UK and Isle of Man in 2023” https://www.researchgate.net/publication/388523157_The_status_of_breeding_Hen_Harriers_Circus_cyaneus_in_the_UK_and_Isle_of_Man_in_2023
[2] When the Brood Management Scheme stopped operating in 2024 (due to technical rules on the distance birds could be moved) there was a 43% fall in the number of hen harrier chicks fledging from 140 to 80.