A recent report has called for stricter consequences for illegal gamebird shooting, which could save a bird of prey from eventual extinction.
What's happening?
A report from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) found the hen harrier, an endangered bird of prey, suffered extreme losses in 2023 due to gamebird shooting.
The report also reveals at least 1,344 birds of prey were illegally killed in the United Kingdom over the past 14 years.
Many believe the loss is preventable with stricter enforcement. Despite the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981 protecting birds of prey, only one person in the last 15 years has been imprisoned for illegal gamebird shooting, per The Guardian.
Why is this important?
The excessive hunting of these birds puts their species at risk of endangerment, if they're not endangered already.
Unfortunately, "Monitored populations of vertebrates (mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish) have seen a devastating 69% drop on average since 1970," according to the World Wildlife Fund.
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Extinction disrupts the ecosystem, throwing nature's balance out of order. A large number of extinctions are due to preventable man-made disruptions like hunting and habitat loss.
What's being done to save the birds?
The RSPB wants "shoots of all gamebirds, not just grouse, [to] require a licence to operate across the devolved nations, and has called on national governments to enforce tougher penalties for the deliberate killing of birds," per The Guardian.
Earlier this year, Scotland passed a law tightening licensing requirements, and violations like shooting birds of prey will result in a revoked license.
The head of investigations for the RSPB told The Guardian that "If we are to save birds like the highly threatened hen harrier, then the current legislation is clearly not enough: we need licensing of gamebird shooting throughout the UK, stronger penalties and meaningful sentencing to stop these crimes and save our wildlife."
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