Patterns of satellite tagged hen harrier disappearances suggest widespread illegal killing on British grouse moors

Richard Saunders,David J T Douglas,Arjun Amar,Stephen M Redpath,Megan Murgatroyd,Stephen G Murphy

doi:10.1038/s41467-019-09044-w

Richard Saunders, David J T Douglas + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-09044-w

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Abstract

Identifying patterns of wildlife crime is a major conservation challenge. Here, we test whether deaths or disappearances of a protected species, the hen harrier, are associated with grouse moors, which are areas managed for the production of red grouse for recreational shooting. Using data from 58 satellite tracked hen harriers, we show high rates of unexpected tag failure and low first year survival compared to other harrier populations. The likelihood of harriers dying or disappearing increased as their use of grouse moors increased. Similarly, at the landscape scale, satellite fixes from the last week of life were distributed disproportionately on grouse moors in comparison to the overall use of such areas. This pattern was also apparent in protected areas in northern England. We conclude that hen harriers in Britain suffer elevated levels of mortality on grouse moors, which is most likely the result of illegal killing.

Highlights

Identifying patterns of wildlife crime is a major conservation challenge
We find an association between the death or disappearance of tracked hen harriers and the use of grouse moors both at the individual level and at the landscape level
Two birds were re-sighted after their tags had failed due to a malfunction, and an additional two were classified as having failed due to a malfunction following an examination of their diagnostic plots (TF— 7%)

Summary

Introduction

Identifying patterns of wildlife crime is a major conservation challenge. Here, we test whether deaths or disappearances of a protected species, the hen harrier, are associated with grouse moors, which are areas managed for the production of red grouse for recreational shooting. At the landscape scale, satellite fixes from the last week of life were distributed disproportionately on grouse moors in comparison to the overall use of such areas This pattern was apparent in protected areas in northern England. We explored the utility of satellite-tracking devices for understanding the extent and pattern of deaths and disappearances of the hen harrier Circus cyaneus. This raptor is protected under Annex 1 of the EU Birds Directive (2009/147/ EC)[23] and Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended)[24]. Quantifying the extent and patterns of such behaviour will be key to the development of long-term sustainable solutions to this problem

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