From time to time the Raptor Persecution UK mentions the attempts by various ‘pro shooting’ organisations led by the Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA) to persuade the various governments of the UK to insist that satellite tracking data from birds of prey is made publicly available in real time. At first glance this seems a reasonable request. After all what harm could result?

It now seems that there is a move from the same groups to have the various datasets of some mammal species made available. Species such as otter and badger are not generally available as these species are often persecuted and therefore records of them are classed as ‘sensitive’.

Surely there can be no problem with revealing such data? A competent land manager will know if they have certain mammal species living on their ground and birds of prey are clearly visible to anyone competent in bird identification (not Tim Bonner of the Countryside Alliance obviously) as they roam the skies.

The problem is something known as the ‘Traffic Camera Situation’ It derives from the habit of making the locations of traffic cameras known. Whilst there is a deterrent effect at the location of the camera in the vast majority of our road network which is not covered drivers can exceed the statutory speed limit with relative impunity. If they are caught it will be by chance and as the risk is slight many feel that it is one worth taking.

Something similar could happen with making raptor satellite data and mammal datasets freely available. If you know a particular bird is tagged or a particular badger sett or otter holt is listed on a database then you also know which ones are not. Should someone wish to kill a raptor or destroy a holt or a sett then they would surely seek to avoid those that are known about and regularly monitored to avoid the crime being detected and investigated. As most raptors are not satellite tagged and most otter holts and badger setts are not recorded or monitored it means that those who would cause them harm can act happy in the knowledge that their crime will most likely go unnoticed.

Current lobbying to have details of satellite tagged raptors available in real time and records of ‘sensitive’ species made public clearly presents serious risks to those species and golden opportunities for those who would seek to harm them.

We will close this blog with two interesting statistics from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Bird Crime report for 2020. The first is that there were 137 confirmed raptor persecution incidents in the UK in 2020, the worst year ever since records began. The second is that over 60% of confirmed incidents of raptor persecution were connected with gamebird shooting.