RSPB statement on Scottish peregrines
25/03/2007 00:00:00
Reasons for the substantial improvement over the last decade.
- The requirement for all captive peregrines to be marked and registered with the authorities.
- The development and use of DNA profiling techniques which clearly established the true parentage of captive birds.
- A greater awareness by British police forces of wildlife crime and greater readiness to carry out effective enforcement and
- A marked improvement in captive breeding and husbandry techniques practised by falconers further reducing the demand for wild birds.
- Any slackening of the registration controls referred to above might well take us back to the bad old days of earlier decades but for the moment we do not consider the activities of fringe illegal falconers to be a major threat to the Scottish peregrines.
The RSPB state that ‘they were very surprised to see the contents of the recent article in the Sunday Mail’,
'Peregrines face extinction as gangs steal 100 eggs to sell to Middle East dealers'. 'We were especially surprised because an RSPB spokesman is quoted who does not recognise his published quotes as in any way representing his or the Society's views on the issue. Quotation of an RSPB spokesman implies that some of the other unattributed 'facts' may also have come from an RSPB source. Since many of these are - to the RSPB's best knowledge - wildly inaccurate we thought it necessary to post this piece in response.' RSPB Scotland believes that the threat to wild peregrines in Scotland from illegal falconry activity is now greatly reduced. In 2006 a slight increase in nest robberies thought to have been undertaken for illegal falconry purposes have been detected but it is in only a very small number of nests.
Peregrines have declined noticeably in the northern part of their Scottish range recently but the species is not threatened with extinction and it is not thought that these declines are caused by direct human interference. Peregrines also face routine persecution on and around some grouse moors in the south and east. The overall Scottish peregrine population, however, still appears to be robust and south Scotland is one of the species' main strongholds in Britain.
If some of the more over-the-top hyperbole is ignored, the article does to some extent accurately reflect the situation of 12 to 15 years ago, for the whole UK - not just Scotland.
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