Hen harriers numbers up, but persecution still rife.

12/03/2007 00:00:00 Hen harriers, the most endangered bird of prey in England, have had the most successful breeding year since monitoring began in 2002. However the 5 years of monitoring also show that numbers remain a long way off what they should be. Breeding is still more or less restricted to one small region of the country and evidence of illegal persecution is still found.

English Nature announced the 2006 breeding figures for the Hen Harrier Recovery Project which showed there were 22 breeding attempts, which resulted in twelve successful hen harrier nests producing 46 fledglings. This is the highest number recorded since the project began monitoring in 2002. However, despite this success, the population in England remains very low and reliant on one key population for successful breeding. This population breeds in the Bowland Fells in Lancashire, and contains 50% of the successful nests, and is also where the birds are monitored by an English Nature and RSPB team.

Illegally persecution of hen harriers by destroying their nests and eggs or by deliberate killing was the main cause of their near-extinction in England, and English Nature’s monitoring over the last 5 years shows that persecution is still the biggest reason for their continuing low numbers. In 2006 2 adult birds disappeared from nests, almost unheard of natural behaviour, and highly suspicious. Over the past 5 years no hen harriers have disappeared while breeding in Bowland, whereas on grouse moors in other parts of England almost 60% of nesting attempts failed due to adult birds disappearing. Hen harriers pose one of the most difficult conservation dilemmas in the UK; hen harriers eat a lot of red grouse, and affect the numbers of grouse available for shooting. This is the prime motivation for their persecution. Yet grouse shooting protects some of our rarest habitats and breeding birds, and pays for the management these habitats need. If the hen harrier numbers are to fully recover, it will only be with the co-operation of grouse moor owners and managers.

Richard Saunders, English Nature’s Hen Harrier Recovery Project Manager, said: ‘Monitoring such a beautiful and fascinating bird over the last 5 years has provided me with many wonderful experiences. At times though witnessing the effects of persecution has also been thoroughly depressing. There is evidence of illegal persecution every year and we cannot tolerate or ignore this happening to such a rare species.

‘On a positive note, I wish to thank the gamekeepers and land owners who have been working with us, particularly those from Bowland who have helped so much since the project began. I would encourage other gamekeepers and land managers to help bring this striking bird back to much more of our countryside. This would be an excellent way to demonstrate that bird of prey conservation can work alongside grouse moor management and would help show the public the positive conservation benefits that shooting can bring.’