Birds of Prey

Persecution, poisoning and the decline of birds of prey

© Peregrine Falcon by Bertie-gregory

Updates:

Response from South Yorkshire Police to our open letter

Following our meeting with South Yorkshire Police and open letter in August about their approach to tackling wildlife crime, we have received several encouraging replies. To find out more, click here.

Latest Birdcrime report

To read the RSPB’s latest annual summary of known offences against birds of prey in the UK, click here.

Reporting wildlife crime

We’ve put together a page of information to help you report any incidents of wildlife crime or suspicious activity. Click here for more information.

The Issue

Birds of prey are fantastic, awe-inspiring and joyful to see but sadly they are disappearing from our local area. Some of these birds are in decline for a number of reasons.

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Our Position

We totally oppose all illegal killing of wildlife, especially our local birds of prey, many of which are internationally important or are locally rare such as the hen harrier, peregrine and goshawk.

The illegal persecution of wildlife must stop now.

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What we have done and will do

  • Following our open letter to South Yorkshire Police about their approach to tackling wildlife crime, we received several encouraging replies from Chief Inspector Mark James, the Force Lead for Wildlife and Rural Crime at SYP.
  • In July 2019 we met with South Yorkshire Police Chief Constable Stephen Watson to discuss SYP's approach to tackling wildlife crime. We followed this up with an open letter in August 2019.
  • In January 2019 we held a talk on birds of prey and the persecution they face in our area by Mike Price of the Peak District Raptor Group.
  • In November 2018 our Chief Executive Liz Ballard was invited to join the National Wildlife Crime Unit Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group.
  • In 2017 and 2018 we worked alongside local group Sheffield Environmental to promote and coordinate Hen Harrier Day in Sheffield, which were both compèred by our Chief Executive Liz Ballard.
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What you can do

Report wildlife crime

Find out how to report illegal wildlife persecution.

Find out more

Contact your MP

Ask your MP what they're doing to prevent wildlife crime in Sheffield and Rotherham.

Contact your MP

Evidence and References

View evidence & references related to our position on the falling numbers of birds of Prey in our region.

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Links & Downloads

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